A/N Sorry about that guys...Don't know what happened or why the chapter was messed up but please enjoy the proper chapter.
Malfoy didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning.
"That's like...what, three days later? For a scratch?" George scoffed.
"There's no way he was in the hospital wing for three days with a scratch from a Hippogriff," Charlie agreed. "They don't have any special properties to create difficulties in closing the wound. It would have been fixed in seconds."
"And then maybe the rest of the day in the Hospital Wing for Madam Pomfrey's extra caution," Tonks agreed.
"So, he was in the Hospital Wing for the same length of time as Harry when he had to regrow every bone in his arm?" Sirius scoffed derisively.
"Well, we all know Malfoy is an attention-seeking drama queen," Ron pointed out. Draco scowled.
The Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Harry's opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.
Most of the room snorted at the ridiculousness.
"Why was he still wearing bandages? Surely Poppy would have removed them before he left the Hospital Wing," Pomona wondered.
"He probably conjured his own while hiding in the dormitory for a couple of days," Ted suggested.
Pansy asked him how it was and if it hurt much. He agreed though he winked at Crabbe and Goyle when she wasn't looking.
Several people rolled their eyes.
"It was a scratch," George repeated.
Snape told them all to settle down. Harry and Ron scowled at each other; Snape wouldn't have said "settle down" if they'd walked in late, he'd have given them detention.
"Yeah, but you wouldn't walk into Snape's lesson late. You wouldn't fake an injury for three days and, if you were truly injured, I imagine you'd just skip potions and get released in time to miss it completely," Tonks pointed out.
"And get in trouble for missing class?" Harry raised his eyebrows.
"True, you'd be in trouble either way, even with a legitimate reason," Kingsley shook his head.
But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's classes; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favoured his own students above all others.
Nobody bothered to comment, but there were some eye rolls.
They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution. Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to Harry and Ron, so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table.
"That's not suspicious at all," Fred snorted.
"Any teacher with an ounce of sense would immediately separate them," Andromeda stated.
"Yes, because Snape is known for his sense when Harry is involved," Bill commented dryly.
Malfoy called that he needed help cutting up his ingredients. Snape made Ron do it.
"Severus, you're ridiculous. If Draco was truly injured enough to be unable to prepare his own ingredients, he shouldn't be brewing at all," Andromeda told him.
"Why miss a chance to humiliate Harry and Ron, as I'm sure Harry will be up next for the next ingredient," Charlie asked sarcastically.
Ron went brick red. He hissed that there was nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm. Malfoy smirked across the table and told him to cut the roots. Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes.
"Bad idea, Ron," George shook his head. "You know he'll tattle, and Snape will make you swap."
"Ron shouldn't have to do Malfoy's work in the first place," pointed out Bill.
"Well, we know that, but Snape's a git and what Ron's doing is just going to backfire and make it worse," Fred sighed. Severus sneered but several people were nodding their agreement.
"He probably thinks it's funny to force them to do the bidding of their bully. Makes him feel powerful," Sirius sneered.
"You'd be the expert on bullying wouldn't you, Black? You and your little gang attacking people four on one." Severus spat back.
"Like you're any better. A grown man in a position of power bullying an innocent child," Emmeline put in.
"Enough," Dumbledore stepped in before the argument could escalate any further.
Malfoy called out that Weasley was mutilating his roots.
"Someone give the kid a real injury," Charlie scowled.
Draco cringed away from the several people, namely Weasleys, who looked perfectly willing to do just that.
Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.
Sirius smirked at the description.
He ordered Ron to change roots. Ron protested, having spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces.
"It's not fair, but you really should have expected that," Tonks said. Ron grimaced.
Snape was having no arguments. Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again. Malfoy maliciously called that he would need his shrivelfig skinned, which Snape assigned to Harry, giving him the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.
"And there it is," Tonks sighed.
Most people in the room scowled but didn't bother saying anything. Snape's behaviour was disgusting and yet there was little point rehashing the same argument.
Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as Ron began trying to repair the damage to the roots he now had to use. Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back across the table at Malfoy without speaking.
Several adults nodded approvingly. It was the best action he could take with Snape hovering, just waiting for an excuse to punish him.
Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever. He asked if they'd seen their pal, Hagrid, lately. Ron told him it was none of his business.
"Ron, you really need to learn not to react to him," Arthur told his son. "It's what he wants."
"Well ignoring him hardly helps either, Harry almost never reacts, and Malfoy still bothers him," Charlie pointed out.
"Well, that's usually because Ron reacts anyway, even if Harry ignores him so he still gets what he wants," Percy reminded him.
"Even if Ron didn't and Harry kept ignoring him, he'd want Harry's attention. Draco's got a cruuuuuush," George said in a sing-song voice. Draco spluttered, going red in the face.
In a tone of false sorrow, Malfoy told them he wouldn't be a teacher much longer as his father wasn't very happy about his injury.
"The injury to your arm, or the one to your hearing which meant you failed to hear the teacher's clear instructions?" Tonks asked.
Ron threatened to give him a real injury. Malfoy continued that his father had complained to the governors and the Ministry. He added that his injury was lasting and who knew if his arm would ever be the same again?
"I was bitten by a basilisk and my arm is fine," Harry told him. Several people cringed horribly at the reminder.
"You were healed by Fawkes," Draco pointed out.
"Alright I had all my bones removed and then regrown. I was only in the Hospital wing for a night."
"Honestly, you're as much of a drama queen as Lockhart," Fred told Draco.
"Spends as long on his hair as well," George agreed. "Both blond. Are you two related?"
"NO! I am not related to him!" Draco said derisively.
"I dunno, it's a pretty strong resemblance," smirked Charlie. Draco scowled furiously, turning to look at his mother and godfather for help. Neither said anything in his defence.
Harry commented that, that was why Malfoy was putting it on, to get Hagrid fired. Malfoy agreed that it was part of it, but there were other benefits. He ordered Ron to slice his caterpillars.
"If your arm is that delicate, should you even be up and about? The corridors get very crowded between lessons. It would have been very easy to take a knock. Cause irreparable harm," Tonks said sarcastically.
A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble.
Neville sighed.
Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned orange. Snape ladled some up and allowed it to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see.
"Too many of some ingredients. It's a fairly simple fix and, for any competent teacher, would be a good teaching moment on correcting Potions gone wrong," Andromeda stated off-handedly.
"Why teach when you can bully your students?" Emmeline asked sarcastically.
He asked if anything penetrated his thick skull. Snape pointed out he'd said only one rat spleen was needed and only a dash of leech juice. He asked what he had to do to make Longbottom understand.
"Your job?" Fred suggested. A few people snorted while Severus glared at him. He opened his mouth, but Arthur cut him off in a mild yet firm tone.
"Don't bother, Severus. Fred is correct. And given how you talk to your students, he has every right to point it out."
Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
Several people scowled at Severus.
Hermione offered to help Neville put it right.
"That's nice of you, Hermione, but you know Snape won't allow that," Emmeline told her with an angry glare at the Professor.
Snape said he didn't recall asking her to show off, causing Hermione to go as pink as Neville.
"She wasn't showing off, she was offering to help her classmate as his teacher is too incompetent to do so," Emmeline snapped.
"I am not incompetent!" Severus snapped.
"True. You're just a bullying git," Charlie stated, still angry at the man's treatment of Ron, and throughout the rest of this class. Severus opened his mouth, but Minerva, Arthur and Dumbledore all shot him looks that made him close it again.
Snape continued that at the end of the lesson he would feed the potion to Trevor.
"You WHAT?" Several people shouted at once. Luna and Charlie both gasped in outrage.
"How dare you?" Minerva raged. She almost asked the students why she didn't hear anything about this but looked at Harry and crumpled slightly. She knew exactly why none of them bothered to report this incident to her.
"The toad should not have been in my classroom. Given its proclivity for escaping, it could have caused untold havoc," Severus drawled.
"A valid point and yet completely irrelevant. You should have had the toad removed. That is not an excuse to poison a student's pet," Andromeda told him sternly.
"I don't normally have him in class, but he'd run away that morning and I found him on the way to Potions and didn't have time to take him back to the dormitory," Neville explained nervously.
"And it doesn't sound like Trevor was causing any issues anyway," Bill glared. "Not that it would have been an excuse to kill him anyway."
"I would not have killed it."
"How would Neville know that? You've been nothing but an evil git to him. Why wouldn't he suspect you would murder his pet out of sheer spite?" Charlie scowled.
Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear. He begged Hermione to help him.
"You did, didn't you?" Luna asked, looking concerned.
"Of course," Hermione assured him.
Seamus leant over to borrow Harry's scales and told him The Prophet said Sirius Black had been sighted. Harry and Ron both asked where and on the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely.
"Malfoy, who would know all about Sirius 'betraying' the Potters. Something else for him to dangle over Harry's head because nobody saw fit to tell him anything," Fred rolled his eyes. A few of the adults shifted guiltily.
Seamus was excited as he said it wasn't too far from there.
"Why is Seamus excited that a supposed mass murderer is possibly near Hogwarts?" Bill asked.
"It's Seamus," Ron shrugged.
A Muggle had called in a sighting but by the time the Ministry got there, he was gone. Ron repeated that he was seen not too far from there and then spotted Malfoy watching and asked if he needed anything else skinning. But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed on Harry. He leaned across the table and asked if Harry was thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed.
"Well, if anyone had a hope it would be Harry," Sirius said, trying to keep things light.
"Clearly," George grinned, gesturing to where the two were leaning into each other on the couch. "You look pretty caught there."
Harry offhandedly agreed. Malfoy smirked and said if it was him, he'd have done something before now. He wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy.
"Yes, you would," Charlie snorted.
"Supposedly your arm might never be the same again from a scratch, you wouldn't stand a chance against a supposed murderer," Ron agreed.
"No, but his father would certainly hear about it," George snickered.
"Well, if he was in Harry's position his daddy wouldn't be around to hear about it, so ickle Malfoy would be scuppered," Fred pointed out.
Ron asked what he was talking about, and Malfoy asked if Harry didn't know. Harry asked what and Malfoy sneered, saying maybe he'd rather not risk his neck, preferring to leave it to the dementors. He added that if it were him, he'd want revenge, he'd hunt him down himself.
Several of the younger lot snorted.
"You're a terrible liar, Malfoy," Fred sneered.
Harry angrily asked what he was talking about, but then Snape called to them that they should have finished adding ingredients so they should clear away while the potion stews. Then they would test Longbottom's.
Several people glowered at Severus.
Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see.
Neville sent Hermione a grateful smile.
"Snape will know you did it. He'll know Neville didn't fix the potion himself," Kingsley said.
"True, but if he saw me before the potion was fixed, he'd have stopped me, and I didn't want to risk it," Hermione explained. "At least this way he wouldn't poison Trevor."
Harry and Ron packed away their unused ingredients and went to wash their hands and ladles in the stone basin in the corner. Harry wondered what Malfoy had meant, why he would want revenge on Black. Ron told him he was making it up, trying to make Harry do something stupid.
"Honestly, you should know by then to just ignore him. He's full of rubbish l and, given he's actively wanted a classmate dead just the year before, it's entirely possible he'd lie his ass off to make you want to chase after someone who wants to kill you," Charlie pointed out.
"Leave it Charlie, he's already apologised," Hermione told him. "Besides, I got him back," she added with a smirk. Draco grimaced at the reminder.
The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron. Snape told everyone to gather round and watch what happened to Trevor. If the potion is correct, he should turn into a tadpole, if not, as Snape expected, he would likely be poisoned.
"Git," Ron coughed. It was a sign of how angry everyone was that nobody told him off for it.
The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited.
"Of course they did," Fred rolled his eyes.
"All of them?" Andromeda wondered. Harry shrugged.
"I don't think so. Mainly Malfoy, Parkinson and their cronies. There were a couple that didn't seem to care either way," he admitted.
Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green.
Several people sighed in relief, feeling pleased for Neville the potion appeared right.
He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat. There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm.
"Well done, Hermione," Andromeda smiled. "Being able to correct Potions that have gone wrong is a key skill past OWL level."
"And doing it without Snape noticing is also impressive," George noted.
The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.
"Thank Merlin," Emmeline breathed.
Snape took five points from Gryffindor, saying he told Hermione not to help him.
"Actually, you didn't. You just said you didn't ask for her to show off. You said nothing about not helping him," Charlie pointed out snidely.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps to the entrance hall. Harry was still thinking about what Malfoy had said, while Ron was seething about Snape. He said Hermione should have lied and said Neville did it all by himself.
"That would never have worked. Snape would never believe it and it would give him an excuse to take more points for lying," George shook his head.
"Trust Snape to be bitter he couldn't poison someone's pet," Sirius sneered.
Hermione didn't reply and Ron asked where she had gone. Harry turned too. They were at the top of the steps now, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading for the Great Hall and lunch. Malfoy passed them, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared. Harry spotted her, hurrying up the stairs, tucking something down the front of her robes.
Hermione blushed. "Of course you would spot that," she muttered to Harry. He grinned at her.
Ron asked how she was behind them one minute and back at the bottom of the stairs the next. She said she had to go back for something she'd forgotten. Then her bag split, unsurprisingly, considering it contained at least a dozen large, heavy books.
"You need an extension charm. And probably a feather light one," George told her.
"Yeah, I meant to get a new bag in Diagon Alley when I saw how many new books I'd need but then I got Crookshanks and was distracted."
Ron asked why she was carrying all of the books around. She reminded him how many subjects she was taking, asking him to hold some. Ron protested, point out they only had Defence that afternoon.
"Except, I suspect Hermione has more than that to attend," Amelia murmured to herself.
Hermione gave a vague reply, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same.
"Well, what else would she do with them in the middle of the corridor?" George laughed. "Just leave them behind?"
"I was thinking more take some of them back to Gryffindor tower, but she didn't do that either," Harry shrugged.
"That would have been a better idea," Hermione sighed. "At least I could get a new bag in Hogsmeade."
She changed the subject, and she marched off toward the Great Hall. Ron asked Harry if he thought she wasn't telling them something.
"What gave it away, Ronniekins?" Fred teased. Ron glared at him.
Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.
"Thank you for that, Harry," Remus remarked dryly.
"You're welcome," Harry grinned. Remus shook his head, looking amused.
He greeted them and instructed them to put their books away as it would be a practical lesson. A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defence Against the Dark Arts before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies -to class and set them loose.
"That does explain why you were all so nervous about a practical. Most students are excited by the prospect," Remus smiled.
"We were excited for the practicals after that one. Once we were sure you knew what you were doing," Harry assured him.
"After what you had dealt with that far, I don't blame you for the caution."
He asked them to follow him. Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin 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.
"Oh, this should be fun," Sirius grinned widely.
"It was very cool," Ron agreed. Remus flushed slightly.
Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song, calling him 'Loony, loopy Lupin.'
"Very catchy," Fred grinned. Minerva was rolling her eyes.
"Peeves normally respects the teachers," Percy frowned.
"Yes, well, he never did like me as much as he did James and Sirius," Remus sighed.
"Moony didn't cause enough trouble for Peeves' liking," Sirius grinned. "That and he frequently found him asleep in all sorts of strange places around the school, particularly around the time of a full moon."
Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling. He advised Peeves to take the gum out. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand. He told the group to watch as this was a useful spell and said, "Waddiwasi!", pointing his wand at Peeves.
Sirius chortled, knowing full well what that spell did. "Nice one, Remy."
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.
Most of the room burst into laughter at that.
"Brilliant," Charlie chuckled delightedly. Remus looked pleased with himself.
Dean commented it was cool. Lupin thanked him, putting his wand away. They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. He ushered them inside. The staffroom, a long, panelled 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.
"Of course it would be him," Bill groaned.
"He just won't go away in this chapter," Charlie complained.
His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said he should leave it open as he'd rather not witness this.
"Good thing too. Can you imagine Snape seeing all of our worst fears?" Ron muttered to Harry. Harry grimaced, imagining Snape's reaction to Remus preventing him from facing the Boggart. Not to mention how he would have reacted to Remus' boggart being the full moon.
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 that it was possible nobody had warned Lupin that the class contained Neville Longbottom who should not be entrusted with anything difficult unless Hermione was whispering instructions in his ear.
"Severus, you're a bitter, vile man. There was absolutely no need for that. To try and ruin another teacher's image of Neville before his first lesson," Emmeline scowled at the potions' master.
"I must agree. I don't suppose you would wish to become the Potions' Master at Hogwarts would you Andromeda?" Minerva asked.
"Excuse me?" Snape spluttered.
"You are clearly unfit for the position, Severus. It would be to the detriment of all students, except your Slytherins, to allow you to continue. I thought Harry's first year was bad enough but this…" She trailed off, unable to find the words.
"Severus must remain at the school," Dumbledore stated firmly.
"Well then, he can teach the NEWT students and someone else can teach the younger students. Someone capable of being a decent human being," Minerva suggested immediately.
"Teaching has never been my calling, but I would certainly fill in such a position while a permanent appointment was found. I tutored Nymphadora during the summers to make up for the lack of…proper education found at Hogwarts," Andromeda agreed.
"I think that's an excellent idea," Filius nodded.
"Minerva…" Dumbledore began but she cut him off.
"No, Albus. For too long have we stood aside, made excuses for him, saying he couldn't be as bad as the students made out. It turns out he is worse. I will not allow him to teach my Gryffindors any longer than necessary. I understand your insistence he remain at the school, but I will go to the board myself if I must, to gain a proper teacher for the students up to OWL level." On this she would not back down. She had failed her students time and again, but she would not continue to do so.
"We can discuss this later."
"There is nothing to discuss except who may take over the position long term."
Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape; it was bad enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers. Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows. He said that he hoped Neville would assist him with the first stage of the operation and was sure he would perform admirably.
"Thank you, Remus," Emmeline shot him a smile while he returned.
Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.
"Hope it hit him," Ron muttered.
Professor Lupin beckoned the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. He told them it was nothing to worry about, there was a Boggart in there. Most people seemed to think this was, indeed, something to worry about.
"Shame we couldn't see Malfoy's," Ron sighed.
"Then he would have seen yours in return. All of ours," Harry pointed out.
"Oh, yeah."
Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively. He explained about Boggarts and that this one had moved in the previous day. He asked the class what a Boggart is. Hermione put her hand up and answered that it was a shape-shifter that would take the form of whatever frightened them the most. Lupin said he couldn't have put it better himself. He continued explaining before asking Harry what their advantage over the Boggart was. Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very off-putting, but Harry had a go.
"Sorry, Harry," Hermione muttered, blushing slightly. "I'll try not to."
"Everyone is kind of used to it by now," he shrugged. Her blush deepened.
He stated that it wouldn't know what shape to take as there were so many of them. Lupin agreed. Hermione put her hand down, looking disappointed.
"I was just excited to have a teacher for Defence that was actually good."
"You do that in every lesson," Ron pointed out.
Lupin told them it was always best to have company when dealing with a Boggart. It becomes confused, he gave the example of a Boggart becoming half a slug.
Sirius gave a bark of laughter. "When did you see that?"
"When I was abroad," Remus told him quietly.
"Who was afraid of a slug?" Ron wondered.
"A flesh-eating slug," Remus corrected. "Someone I met in the States. They'd had a bad encounter with one and it had eaten through most of the flesh of his left leg. It was restored, of course, but he was never the same afterwards."
He continued that the charm to repel a boggart was simple but required force of mind. What really finished it was laughter. They had to force it to assume a shape they found amusing. He told them the incantation which the class repeated. He told them that was the easy part.
"Unfortunately," Neville sighed.
"You did very well, Neville," Remus told him. "You took on the boggart not only once, but twice and defeated it both times." Neville flushed at the praise, shooting a nervous look at Snape who was glaring at Remus.
Lupin said this was where Neville came in. The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows. Lupin asked what frightened him most in the world. Neville answered too quietly to be heard before repeating that it was Snape. Almost everyone laughed.
"I hardly think it funny that a professor in a school has bullied and tormented a student so badly they are his worst fear," Emmeline said, pursing her lips furiously.
"Especially when you consider Neville's childhood. His family dropped him out of windows and pushed him off piers, amongst other things. But none of those things are his worst fear. It's Snape," Bill added, recalling what they had learned in the first book. Neville blushed at the reminder and Bill shot him an apologetic look, but it was still true. And, frankly, it was disturbing how terrified Neville was of Snape.
"Congratulations, Severus. You have become the very thing you despised James Potter for being. You hated him for being a bully, tormentor, a coward who attacked only with a severe advantage. That's you. Taking out your misplaced rage on thirteen-year-old boys," Minerva said quietly, but the disgust in her voice was clear. Severus jolted at that. "At least you could, and did, fight back against the four of them. Neville has no such option. You are worse than you believed James Potter to be. At least he grew up. I hope you are happy with yourself."
Severus had turned even paler than usual at her words. Inwardly he was horrified. Not only was he comparable to James Potter…but he'd also turned into his father. Something he'd sworn he would never do. He felt sick. And he'd gotten worse after this. He'd heard about the incident and his only thought had been that Lupin was back and daring to prank him even while he was forced to brew the difficult and time-consuming wolfsbane for him. He hadn't stopped to consider the implications of the whole thing. And…he hadn't cared, unable to see past his own humiliation, lost in memories of his own school years and embarrassment from the damned Marauders.
Lupin was thoughtful before he said that he believed Neville lived with his grandmother. Neville agreed but quickly said he didn't want the boggart to turn into her either.
"So, Neville's boggart could be a toss-up between his teacher and his guardian? Both of whom are supposed to teach, guide and protect him?" Emmeline asked angrily. Inwardly she was devastated that she had let the young boy down so badly by keeping her distance.
"Er, it's alright," Neville told her nervously.
"No, it's not," Arthur said firmly. "The adults in your life have failed you almost as badly as they have failed Harry. None of this is right."
Lupin said he misunderstood him. Then he asked Neville to tell them what clothes his grandmother usually wore.
Sirius, knowing exactly where Remus was going with this, burst out laughing. He thought it was the least Snivellus deserved, but it was brilliant.
Neville looked startled but described her normal outfit, including a dress, a hat with a vulture on and a scarf. Lupin asked about a handbag to which Neville agreed. He told Neville to picture the clothes in his mind's eye. Neville agreed. Lupin explained that when the boggart left the wardrobe it would take the form of Snape. When Neville cast the spell, focusing on his grandmother's clothes, it would force Snape into said clothes.
Everyone in the room, except Narcissa, Draco, Severus and Dumbledore, all burst out laughing at that. Severus was too lost in his own thoughts to even react to the goings-on.
"Ahh, Remus, that's brilliant," Tonks giggled delightedly.
"I wish I could have seen it," Charlie said, struggling to talk through his own laughter.
"Don't we all," Fred agreed, chortling.
"That's absolutely perfect comeuppance," George grinned.
"Except, it will be talked about all over Hogwarts. And who would Snape take it out on when he heard?" Bill asked, mirth leaving him quickly. That sobered everyone else up too. They all turned to glare at Snape, just knowing he'd taken his anger out on Neville.
"You'd think he'd be concerned about being the boggart of his student, but he probably enjoyed it. Just not the 'making it amusing' part," Charlie said scathingly.
There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently. Lupin then asked them all to imagine what scared them the most and how to make it funny.
"I know boggarts are part of the curriculum, but I always thought it was a bad idea to let a bunch of teenagers know each other's worst fears. Some people's will be a lot worse than others and it seems like it would only encourage bullying," Ted noted.
"Yeah, it really should be done individually," Percy nodded.
"There isn't usually a practical for boggarts. I only did one because it conveniently moved into a good location at the best possible time. They were the only class to do so because they successfully got rid of the boggart. Everyone else had theory lessons only," Remus explained. "But I agree, I should have thought of that."
The room went quiet. Harry wondered what scared him the most. His first thought was a Voldemort returned to full strength. But, before he could even think about how to make that funny, he recalled the rotting hand of the dementor on the train. The cold that made him feel like he was drowning.
Harry and Sirius both leant into each other more, each offering the other support.
Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one had noticed. Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, "Take its legs off " Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron's greatest fear was spiders.
"After the previous year, I really can't blame you," Fred shuddered.
"That was enough to give anyone arachnophobia," Remus agreed.
Professor Lupin asked if everyone was ready. Harry was not, wondering how to make a dementor less frightening.
"Put it in a tutu?" Fred offered with a grin.
"Somehow, I think that might actually be even more terrifying," Harry told him dryly. He laughed.
"Turn it's face into a clown one?" George suggested. "Make it do the ballet?" Harry chuckled.
He didn't want to ask for more time as everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.
"My apologies, Harry," Remus said. He'd never planned on letting Harry have a go with the boggart and he hadn't realised how much that had affected Harry until he had confronted him about it later on.
"It's ok. I know why you did it now," Harry reassured him with a smile.
Lupin told Neville they were going to back away to give him a clear field. Then he would call the next person forward. They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville 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. Lupin had his own wand out and counted to three. A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.
Severus swallowed harshly. Memories of backing away from his father, trying to avoid a blow, flashed in his mind and he shook his head to clear it.
Neville squeaked out the spell. There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.
There was another round of laughter.
"Well done, Neville. You did it perfectly, first time," Emmeline smiled.
"Professor Lupin was a great teacher," Neville mumbled, looking down at the floor.
"Call me Remus, Neville. And Emmeline is right, you did very well being the first student and getting it on your first time," Remus told him kindly. The tips of Neville's ears turned red.
There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted called Parvati forward. Snape 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. She cast the spell, causing the bandages at the mummy's feet to unravel, it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"I wonder if Parvati ever saw a mummy or just read about them?" Bill mused. They were reasonably common in Egypt. Not the magical kind, those were rare, but it was difficult to know which was which when they were first uncovered.
Seamus was up next. He 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. Seamus performed the spell. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
"I think they came across one while they were visiting family in Ireland," Neville said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. I remember him saying something about that afterwards," Harry agreed.
The boggart turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle.
Sirius snarled.
Then it became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before and then a single, bloody eyeball. Lupin called Dean forwards and the boggart turned into a severed hand.
"Eugh. That's gross," Tonks wrinkled her nose.
Dean hurried forward. Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab. Dean called out 'Riddikulus' and the hand was caught in a mousetrap. Ron was up next. The boggart transformed into a giant spider, causing quite a few people to scream. It was six feet tall and covered in hair, and advanced on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Harry thought Ron had frozen. Then he performed the spell, causing the legs to vanish. It rolled over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Harry's feet.
Everyone glanced worriedly over at Harry.
"Can you imagine Malfoy's reaction if words got out that Harry's boggart is, in fact, a dementor. He'll be worse than ever," Charlie frowned.
"It was fine," Harry told him.
He raised his wand, ready, but Lupin intercepted it.
Most of the adults nodded approvingly. It wouldn't have gone well if the boggart had turned into a dementor in front of the whole class. Even a boggart would mimic the effects of a real dementor.
It transformed and, for a second, everyone thought it had disappeared. Eventually they spotted it, a silvery-white orb handing in the air in front of the professor.
Remus sighed while several people shot him sympathetic looks.
He performed the spell easily and called Neville forward. The boggart became Snape once more. Neville looked determined and once more forced boggart-Snape into his grandmother's clothes. With one last big laugh, the boggart exploded into wisps of smoke that quickly disappeared.
"Good job, Nev," Harry smiled.
"Thanks, Harry," Neville returned the smile.
The class broke into applause. Lupin told Neville he had done excellently. He awarded five points for every person who faced the boggart.
"A bit generous there, Remus," Minerva said, looking amused. "Especially considering no other class had the same opportunity to do so." He shrugged, giving her an innocent look that nobody bought.
Neville got ten for facing it twice while Harry and Hermione also got five points each. Harry protested he didn't do anything, but Lupin reminded him they had answered the questions correctly earlier.
"That was the first time I've ever gotten more points than Hermione in a class that wasn't Herbology," Neville noted, looking proud and a little surprised.
"You deserved them. You faced your fear very well, especially considering what he did earlier than same day," Remus told him with a slight smile.
He gave them homework for Monday and dismissed them. Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, however, wasn't feeling cheerful. He knew Professor Lupin had deliberately stopped him from tackling the boggart and wondered why.
"Not everyone got a chance with the boggart anyway," Hermione reminded him.
"Yeah, but Remus had deliberately stopped me getting a chance. It wasn't that we just ran out of time," Harry said. "But it's fine. Remus explained."
He wondered if it was because he'd seen Harry collapse on the train, and thought he wasn't up to much. Or that Harry might pass out again.
"I…" Remus began but Harry cut him off.
"Honestly, Remus, I know. You've explained and apologised enough. I understand and I'm not mad or hurt anymore," Harry assured him.
But no one else seemed to have noticed anything. The class all discussed how they had taken on their own fears. Lavender wondered why Lupin was afraid of crystal balls.
Sirius snorted loudly at that, while several other people chuckled lightly.
Ron stated it was the best lesson they'd ever had in Defence.
"I'd take that as a bigger compliment if I hadn't heard about the quality of your previous lessons," Remus grinned.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be the best teacher we have, no matter who we get for the next four years," Harry said. The others who had attended Hogwarts that year all nodded in agreement and Remus looked embarrassed.
Hermione said he seemed like a very good teacher. She wished she could have gotten a turn and Ron sniggered, asking if her boggart would have been a piece of homework that only got nine out of ten.
"Ron, even if that was her fear, it's not nice to make fun of people's fears. You didn't like it when Hermione laughed at your fear of spiders the year before. It might seem silly to you, but there is likely a very non-silly reason behind it," Bill told his brother. Ron nodded.
"That's the end of the chapter," Amelia announced.
"My turn then," Kingsley sighed. Amelia handed him the book.