Chapter 197
Chapter 197
“Riddikulus!” Justin raised his wand towards the hideous monster he feared and shouted with all the courage he could muster.
Smoke immediately enveloped the monster. It transformed into a Black man in a tall hat, dancing with a cane.
The students from non-magical families burst into laughter.
“Excellent!” Lupin applauded happily and waved his wand, forcing the boggart back into the wardrobe. “A very famous comedian, isn’t he?”
“You know him?” a student asked in astonishment.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Lupin winked. “I once had dinner with him. He’s a good man–and a wizard, incidentally.”
“A wizard?”
“No!”
The students who recognised the performer cried out in surprise.
Lupin smiled faintly. “That is outside today’s lesson. Anyone who wants to know more may ask me afterwards.”
“Let us continue. Would anyone else like to try?”
Justin’s successful demonstration filled everyone with confidence, and hands shot into the air. To their surprise, however, Professor Lupin chose someone else.
“Mr Suer Bones, would you like to come forwards and try?”
Truthfully, when Professor Lupin had asked everyone to consider their greatest fear, Suer could not imagine what his might be. Death? He had already experienced it, and there was little left to fear.
He had therefore not raised his hand. But now that Professor Lupin had chosen him, he did not mind discovering what shape the boggart would assume.
Suer stepped into the space the others cleared for him. Professor Lupin already had his wand pointed at the handle, curiosity flashing through his eyes as he studied the calm young wizard.
“As before, I shall count to three. One–two–three–begin!”
A beam of red light struck the handle, and the wardrobe door opened.
The instant it did, Suer keenly felt a mental force rush directly into his mind, trying to search his deepest memories and find what frightened him most.
He instinctively used the Occlumency Snape had taught him to resist it. Professor Snape’s frequent Legilimency attacks had nearly carved the reaction into Suer’s instincts.
Unable to enter Suer’s mind, the boggart stretched and changed at random, spraying wave after wave of smoke in every direction.
It seemed agitated because it could find nothing to become.
Everyone heard the boggart’s voice, a hoarse yet piercing and unpleasant sound. Several students frowned and covered their ears.
Fortunately, Suer remembered a moment later that he was in a lesson. He lowered his Occlumency and allowed the magic into his mind.
The boggart settled, though it continued to change irregularly.
At last, it assumed a human shape. As the figure became clearer, the students began murmuring among themselves.
The boggart had become a man–someone Suer knew better than almost anyone.
“What I fear most is…” Ancient memories churned in his mind. They were so distant that Suer stared blankly at the familiar figure for a moment.
The man revealed a vicious smile and reached forwards. Lupin coughed beside Suer.
“Riddikulus!” Suer instinctively raised his wand.
Magic shot straight into the boggart. It spun around and finally became a joke box–a toy his younger sister had loved as a child.
“Caw, caw… ha ha ha ha… heh heh heh.”
The toy produced many different kinds of laughter. When Angel cried as a child, Suer could always cheer her by bringing it out.
“Good. Next.” Lupin said nothing more and did not return the boggart to the wardrobe. Instead, he beckoned to the students still whispering nearby.
Suer withdrew, and another Ravenclaw girl hurried forwards.
The boggart immediately became a slimy snake and crawled towards her.
“Riddikulus!” the girl shouted with a trembling voice, her eyes tightly closed…
The spell succeeded, and the snake tied itself into a knot.
“Good, though it is best to keep your eyes open when casting. Next.” Lupin still offered praise.
The students stopped discussing the identity of the man Suer feared and prepared to step in whenever needed.
After leaving the centre, Suer found a quiet corner, stood there and lowered his head.
He knew the figure the boggart had assumed intimately. He had never imagined that what he feared most would be the person who struggled to grow up in his previous life, then struggled merely to survive in that world…
No. That was not it. Suer shook his head, rejecting the thought.
He did not fear his former self. He feared returning to that world–alone, tormented and forced to struggle constantly just to remain alive.
Of course. Here he had family, friends and a remarkable life. Naturally, he never wanted to return to the past, to his original world.
“Very good. Next!” Professor Lupin called loudly.
While Suer pondered with his head bowed, the students went forwards one after another. The boggart transformed from a banshee into a mummy, then a rat, and finally, with a pop, a blood-covered claw.
“Excellent. It is confused now and no longer knows what to become. Next–keep going.”
Incantations sounded throughout the classroom.
“Riddikulus!”
When the final student stepped forwards and cast the spell, the boggart burst into countless wisps of smoke amid the class’s laughter and streamed into the open wardrobe. Professor Lupin waved his wand at precisely the right moment and sealed the door tightly.
“Brilliant!” Professor Lupin said loudly, drawing Suer back from his thoughts.
Everyone applauded enthusiastically.
“You all did very well, and for a moment I was not sure how to reward you. Let me think… Fifteen points each to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!”
The applause grew even warmer. Everyone had taken a liking to the pale, sickly-looking Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
“That is nearly all for today’s lesson.” Professor Lupin slipped his wand back into his old, patched robes. “Now we come to your homework.”
“Read the chapter on boggarts, then summarise in your own words the creature’s characteristics and what one should do when facing it. There is no required length…”
“Hmm… I do not think that will be too difficult, will it?” Professor Lupin winked at them.
“I can write five inches!” a student cried.
“That will not be necessary. A simple account will do.” Professor Lupin smiled.
“I attended Hogwarts myself, and I detested homework as much as anyone. But some review after class is still necessary.”
Professor Lupin’s humour drew another burst of laughter.
“All right. Class dismissed.”