"He's been sighted! He's been sighted!" Seamus exclaimed as he ran down the Gryffindor table during lunch, squeezing between Neville and Dean and slamming theDaily Prophetdown on the table.
"Where?" Grace asked, as she and Ron stood up from their seats and moved further down the table; Harry and Hermione joining them and standing behind Dean.
"Not too far from here!" Seamus answered. "It was a muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone-"
"Dufftown?!" Hermione exclaimed, reading the paper over Seamus' shoulder. "That's just on the other side of Hogsmeade!"
"You don't think he'll try to come to Hogwarts, do you?" Neville asked, looking up from the paper and to the rest of their group.
"With Dementors at every entrance?" Parvati asked, frowning.
"Dementors? He's already slipped by them once, hasn't he?" Lavender replied nervously. "Who's to say he can't do it again?"
"That's right," Seamus nodded grimly. "Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke… Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."
Grace shivered as she looked down at the paper, staring at the photo of the screaming man. It was the same picture that has been put up everywhere, the same photo that's been in every issue of theDaily Prophetsince his escape. It was the same picture she found herself staring at often, always finding ominous similarities.
"Thinking about catching Sirius Black single-handed, Potter?" Malfoy asked, smirking from the Slytherin table. "Or perhaps Little Black is going to help you?" he added, nodding at Grace, who glared at him. Instead, Malfoy's lips curled into a mean smile. "Of course, if it was me, I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school, I'd be out there looking for him. I still don't understand how the two of you are suchgoodfriends considering-"
"What are you on about, Malfoy?" Ron snapped at him.
"Don't…don't youknow,Potter?" Malfoy asked slowly, narrowing his eyes at Harry, then he turned is cool gaze onto Grace. "You really don't know, do you, Black?" this time he asked Grace.
"Know what?" Harry asked, glaring at Malfoy.
Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh as he shook his head at them. "Maybe you'd rather not risk your necks," he added with a nonchalant shrug. "Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself, and I wouldn't associate withher," he added, sneering at Grace. Before anyone could ask him anymore, the blond boy turned around and strutted away with his friends trailing behind him.
"What did Malfoy mean?" Harry asked. "Why would I want revenge on Sirius Black? He hasn't done anything to me – yet."
"And why wouldn't you want to be around Grace?" Neville asked, looking from Harry to Grace, then back at Harry. "It'sGrace. She's the nicest person in our year."
"He's making it up," Ron answered. "He's trying to get a rise out of both of you, and make you do something stupid."
Grace frowned as she turned back to the newspaper, staring at the picture. She had an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach, that Malfoy knew what she was suspecting herself. If she was right, and if Sirius Black was coming after Harry… she wouldn't blame Harry for not wanting to be around her either.
It was the first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, and Grace was excited. She had felt guilty for not seeing Remus after dinner yesterday, but she saw him leave shortly after he finished eating. She knew he was probably resting seeing as the full moon was only a few days ago. When Grace entered the classroom, she took a seat next to Harry, who sat behind Ron and Dean. She took out her book, ink, quill, and some parchment, and set everything in order on her desk, waiting for class to start. She smiled when she saw Remus – Professor Lupin – place his old, tatty briefcase on his desk. She should really get him a new one.
"Good afternoon," he greeted them with a smile. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wants."
Everyone glanced around at each other as they put away their books. Grace grimaced when she noticed Neville touch his ears; the last practical lesson they had in Defense Against the Dark Arts was when Lockhart decided to set loose a cage full of Cornish pixies on them. "Right then," Professor Lupin started when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."
Everyone in class had filed a line and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom and down the corridor. Turning the corner, they saw Peeves floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. Peeves didn't pay any of them mind until Professor Lupin was two feet away, then he wiggled his curly-toed feet before breaking out into song.
"Loony, loopy, Lupin!" He starting singing. "Loony, loopy, Lupin! Loony, loopy, Lupin –" Grace stared wide-eyed at Peeves. He usually showedsomerespect to their teachers, but it seemed that he threw any respect he had in him that day out the window. She felt herself smiling when she saw her Professor also smiling.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said with mirth. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get to his brooms." Peeves paid Professor Lupin's words no mind, instead he blew out a loud, wet raspberry. Professor Lupin let out a small sigh and took out his wand from his blazer pocket. "This is a useful little spell," he told them all as he glanced over her shoulder. "Please watch closely." Grace held her breath, staring wide eyed at her uncle with anticipation. He held out his wand to shoulder height and said: "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves. The wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and shot down Peeve's left nostril, causing him to whirl upright and zooming away, yelling out curses.
"Cool, sir!" Dean exclaimed in amazement.
"Thank you, Dean," Professor Lupin said with a smile as he put his wand away. "Shall we proceed?" The class nodded eagerly as they followed him through another corridor, and stopped right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," he said, opening the door and standing to the side. Grace blinked with amazement. She'd always wanted to see what the staffroom looked like, she always had thoughts about it and wondered if it would resemble her own common room.
The room was long, and was full of old, mismatching chairs that were empty except for one. Professor Snape sat in a low armchair, and looked over when they started filtering through. He narrowed his dark eyes, and his lips curled into a sneer before turning to Professor Lupin. "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this," he said as he stood up form his seat and strolled past the students. Before exiting the room, he turned to and glowered at the class. "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin – except you might've heard a different story from your…niece– " Snape hissed the word as he glared over at Grace. "But this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Black is muttering instructions and answers in his ear."
At this Neville's face turned so red, he could have blended in with his robes. Grace glared at Snape, she hated how he treated her best friend in his own class, but to speak so rudely to Neville in front of Remus!
"I was actually hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of today's lesson," Professor Lupin said with a smile, "and I'm sure he will perform it admirable." At Professor Lupin's words, Neville's face grew darker. Snape's lip curled, glancing over them before turning on his heel, leaving the room and closing the door with a sharpsnap. "Now then," Professor Lupin started, gaining all their attention as he made his way down the room to an old wardrobe that was rattling back and forth. "Intriguing, yes? Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?"
"That's a boggart, that is," Seamus answered nervously, his eyes never leaving the shaking wardrobe.
"Very good, Seamus! Can anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?"
"It's a shape-shifter," Hermione spoke up, appearing beside Ron. Ron, Harry, and Grace whipped their heads in her direction, looking at her with wide eyes.
"When did you get here?" Ron whispered, then turned to Grace and Harry. "Did you see her come in?" The two of them shrugged and shook their heads.
"It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most," Hermione continued, ignoring Ron.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Professor Lupin praised proudly, and Hermione glowed. Grace glowered over at Hermione, not liking the bitter feeling that was rising in the pit of her course, Remus would praise Hermione, becauseof courseHermione always had to give the textbook answer, and answer everything without givinganyone elsea chance. "And where do Boggarts like to live?" Grace raised her hand high in the air, but Professor Lupin to Parvati. "Parvati?"
"Oh…er… dark, enclosed spaces?" She answered nervously and Professor Lupin nodded.
"Good, good! Yes, they love to live in places like wardrobes, under beds, cupboards – I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock," Grace shivered at the memory from her childhood. "Thisone moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice," he continued. "So we know where a Boggart likes to live, and what it is! We currently have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted what it is, Harry?" He asked, turning to Harry.
Grace glared at Hermione, who was bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hair in the air. Harry looked from her to Grace, nervously before turning back to Professor Lupin. "Er – because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Precisely!" Professor Lupin said proudly. Hermione looked disappointed as she put her hand down, and Grace still hadn't stopped glaring at her. "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. What is it thatreallyfinishes a boggart?" He asked. Of course Hermione's hand was in the air again, as she bounced up and down, wanting to answer the question. Grace huffed at the girl, and scowled to the floor. "Grace?" She looked up and saw Professor Lupin waiting for her. "What finishes a boggart?"
She thought back to when she was seven, when Remus had found the boggart in their grandfather clock. It had turned into a dark, black mass that had covered her completely, she was scared of the dark at that time, so she was screaming. Remus, who was watching her, came in and stopped the boggart, turning the black mass into a large show of exploding fireworks. She laughed and jumped around in excitement. "Laughter," She answered, smiling up at him. "Only laughter can really defeat a boggart."
"Perfect answer!" He smiled at her, and she stood straighter with pride. She didn't miss the disgruntled look on Hermione's face, and she felt her smile growing. "Now to force it to take the shape of something amusing, you will need to cast a simple spell. We'll practice it without wands first," he announced. "Repeat after me, please …Riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" The class repeated.
"This class isriddikulus," Malfoy muttered somewhere from the back and Grace turned and glared at him.
"Good, very good! But that is the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough, and that is where you come in Neville," he said, looking to Neville. The wardrobe shook again, but not as much as Neville was. Grace looked to the boy with concern. She knew Remus wouldn't put any of them in a position where they'd get hurt, or couldn't do anything, but that still didn't stop her from being concerned.
"Right, Neville," Professor Lupin started. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most?" he asked, and Grace's heart fell. She already knew the answer. "Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry."
Neville looked around him, hoping someone would help him, and he caught Grace's eyes. She nodded encouragingly to him, and he gulped. "Professor Snape." Everyone except Grace erupted in laughter, and she glared at everyone. Ron and Harry immediately stopped when her eyes went to them.
"Hmm, yes, he frightens all," Professor Lupin teased lightly. "Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"I don't want the boggart to turn to her either!" Neville exclaimed.
"It won't, but I want you to picture her clothes,onlyher clothes, very clearly in your mind. Can you do that?" Professor Lupin asked and Neville nodded.
"She carries a red handbag – "
"We don't need to hear it. If you see it, we will. Now when I open this wardrobe, Neville, here's what I want you to do…" He started and leaned in closer to whisper something in Neville's ear. "You can do this Neville. Wand at the ready!" he said encouragingly as he stepped away. Neville nodded nervously as Professor Lupin flicked his wand and the wardrobe door opened, revealing Professor Snape.
The Boggart Snape sauntered toward them, and Neville trembled as he held his wand up. "Think, Neville,think!" Professor Lupin encouraged.
"R-r-riddikulus!" Neville called !Boggart Snape stumbled backwards as his clothes turned from the usual black robes to a ghastly green dress, large pheasant hat, and red handbag. The entire class (except for the Slytherin's of course) roared in laughter. Professor Lupin, flicked his wand and an upbeat jazzy tune filled the room.
"I want everyone to form a line!" He instructed and all the students pushed, and shoved their way into a line. Poor Ron tried to get further back but ended up at the front of the line. "Ron! Forward!"
Ron gulped and stepped forward. Boggart Snape snapped his head up and saw Ron, then started transforming into a new shape. This one was a giant spider. Grace shivered at the memory of Aragog. She jumped when she felt hands run up and down her arm, and she turned and saw it was Harry who was behind her. Her cheeks burned as she gulped and something light and unfamiliar fluttered in her stomach. "Riddikulus!" Ron exclaimed, and there was thecrackand the Spider was now trying to balance its eight legs that were now scattering around in roller skates.
"Parvati!" Professor Lupin called out and Parvati stood forward. The boggart then took a shape of a blood-stained mummy.
"Riddikulus!" Parvati shouted, and the bandages started unraveling, and tangling at the mummy's feet, making it trip and it's head rolled off.
Grace wondered as Dean went up, what her own greatest fear was. There were a lot of things she was scared of: the dark (as silly as that sounds), drowning, being locked away. She was scared of the full moon, but that was a fear mostly for Remus' sake. Then there was the Dementors.
"Gracie, you're up!" Professor Lupin called out excitedly. Grace gulped and took a step forward. The Boggart zipped into itself, turning into a bunch of things before turning into a tall man with dark, curly hair that matched her own with no face. Professor Lupin stood straighter, looking at her with concern and taking a step closer, ready to step in if he needed.
Grace froze as she stared at the figure with wide ! The boggart shifted from the man into the shape of her mother. Her heart stopped, and she felt her body go cold. That was an unexpected turn of events. Remus frowned as he looked from the boggart to Grace, he too, hadn't expected that.
"No wonder your father left at the first chance he got," her mother hissed angrily. "To haveyouas a daughter," she scoffed. "Helpless, untalented… a waste of my time and energy. I'd choose to have Ron as a child, or Harry, sweet and polite Harry Potter was more of a joy to have around than you were. I wish Hermione was my daughter instead, polite, highly intelligent. She's the best of your year isn't she?" Grace felt her wand slip from her hand and clatter onto the floor. "You ruined my life, I had plans and ambitions but I had to throw it all awayfor you! I wish you'd never been born-" Grace felt herself being pulled back away from the Boggart.
Blinking away the tears that were clouding her eyes, she saw Harry step in front of her. She felt warm arms wrap around her shoulders and run down her arm gently. It smelt like Ron. Her mother turned and then the Boggart started to turn shape again. The large, black figure of a Dementor filled the space, and Grace's heart stopped again. Professor Lupin, who was already at the ready, quickly stood in front of Harry, forcing the Boggart to change it's shape again to the full moon. Grace's heart fell as she looked at Remus, fearing that someone was going to find out.
"Riddikulus!" He exclaimed, and the boggart turned into a white balloon and whizzed around the room, and Professor Lupin guided it back to the wardrobe and with a flick of his wrist, the door was locked. "That's all for today," he called out, and everyone groaned. "Five points to each student who faced a boggart, and five extra to Seamus, Hermione, Harry, Parvati and Grace for answering questions correctly," he announced. "Good work everyone, excellent lesson today. Homework: kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me, and hand it in on Monday. That'll be all," the class groaned as everyone started filtering out of the room.
Ron still had his arm around Grace as she stared blankly at the floor, still feeling the tears falling down her cheeks. Her ears muffled the sound of her classmates gushing about the lesson, and she wanted to as well, but her mothers words kept echoing in her mind.
"Grace," Remus called out. The Gryffindor's had stopped and turned to look at Professor Lupin, who was looking solely at Grace with a sympathetic look. "Why don't you come with me?" he nodded his head in the other direction. Grace nodded numbly as she pulled away from Ron.
Ron, Harry, Hermione and Neville all stopped and watched their friend and their teacher walk down the hall. "Was that her mother?" Neville asked in a whisper.
"Yeah," Ron and Harry both answered.
"She's not very nice is she?" Neville commented.
"Aunt Helena is great… with us," Ron muttered. "She always seemed to treat me and my siblings really well, always did stuff for us and everything but…" he paused, glancing sadly down the hall as Grace and Lupin turned the corner. "She's always treated us differently than she treats Grace. Aunt Helena is always too hard on Grace, and we never understood why…"
"One time over the holiday," Harry spoke up quietly. "she was really upset, and wishing that your mum," he turned to Ron, "was her mum instead."
"She's said the same thing to me before," Ron admitted sadly.
