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Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
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-Staffroom – DADA Class-
"Leave the door open Lupin, I don't want to be here to see this" Professor Snape said, closing his book and getting up from the sofa he was sitting on.
Professor Snape then started towards the door, but halfway through he turned to Professor Lupin.
"Probably no one warned you, Lupin, but this class has Neville Longbottom. I advise you not to let this boy do anything that presents great or the least difficulty, unless Miss Granger decides to whisper instructions in his ear" Professor Snape he said contemptuously, looking lightly at Hermione and Nev.
Hermione was embarrassed but didn't back down, and impressively Neville faced Professor Snape, looking at him defiantly.
Professor Snape's eyes widened slightly, but he was quick to hide it, but I could feel he was surprised.
Looking at Neville who was trying to keep up a brave face I smiled, knowing he was scared but still decided to face his tormentor.
'Is this how a mother bird feels when she sees her babies fly for the first time?' I thought, wiping a fake tear from my eyes.
Professor Lupin listening to Professor Snape turned to look out of the corner of his eye at Neville, and seeing his defiant stance he smiled.
'Just like Alice' Professor Lupin thought with nostalgia. He then turned to Professor Snape.
"No need to worry, I'm sure Neville will do very well in my class" he said, smiling slightly, "Actually, I'm going to ask Neville to help me in the first part of my lesson"
Professor Snape then narrowed his eyes at Professor Lupin.
"I hope you know what you're doing," he said dryly.
"I know very well what I'm doing" Professor Lupin said, and if it were possible Professor Snape would have killed Lupin with his eyes.
Professor Snape looked at Professor Lupin for a few more seconds before scowling at Neville. He then snorted coldly, turning and walking out of the room without another word, his cloak billowing behind him.
As soon as he left and the door closed, and Professor Lupin turned to the rest of us.
"Nice guy," he said jokingly.
He then walked towards the wardrobe at the back of the room, gesturing for us to follow him.
When he got to the side of the wardrobe it jerked, hitting the wall and startling some students.
"Don't worry" Professor Lupin said calmly, "There's a Boggart in there"
He then proceeded to give a little basic introduction about what a Boggart is and where it usually hides.
"And now that you know a little bit about Boggarts, there's a question we all must ask... What does a Boggart look like?" Professor Lupin asked, and then he pointed at Hermione.
"It's a shape-shifter" she replied quickly, happy to have been chosen, "It's able to take the shape of the thing it thinks scares us the most"
"Perfect, I couldn't have given a better description" Professor Lupin smiled, and Hermione's face lit up with pride, "A Boggart can change into anything as long as it's the greatest fear of the person in front of it. No one knows what a Boggart really looks like, and in addition to its appearance being a mystery, Boggarts are also amortals."
As Professor Lupin explained how to fight the Boggart I was looking at all the students in the room, noticing how tense and nervous some of them were.
I guess I didn't feel as much nervousness coming from them even in the troll attack our first year, and it proved to me that people are more nervous facing their greatest fears even knowing they are safe than when they are in some real danger.
'Heh, that's the power of fear' I thought, shaking my head, 'That's why Voldemort is considered the greatest dark wizard, surpassing even Grindelwald'
When I refocused on the class, I saw Professor Lupin explaining to Neville the process behind the Boggart-Banishing Spell.
"Okay! Now everyone line up at the back of the room. As soon as Neville faces the Boggart and casts the spell on it, the next one in line will advance, and then the next and the next, understand?" Professor Lupin said to us, and immediately everyone started to form a line, giving Neville ample space, who stood nervously in the middle of the room in front of the wardrobe.
When the students started to form a line, I waited for everyone to be organized before moving to the end of the line, right behind Fay and Mandy.
I noticed that Terry who was a little way forward was looking at me with a raised eyebrow, but he just shrugged and turned his attention back to Professor Lupin.
"On the count of three I will open the wardrobe, so get ready Neville" Professor Lupin said to Nev, with his wand in hand.
Neville nodded at him boldly, gripping his wand tightly as his hand shook.
"1... 2... 3... Now!" Professor Lupin exclaimed, and immediately swung his wand open the wardrobe doors, freeing the Boggart.
What came out of the wardrobe was a perfect copy of Professor Snape, who was advancing with a scowl towards Neville, who's eyes widened in alarm.
"Ri-Ridikkulus!" Neville exclaimed, pointing his wand at the Boggart, who stopped with an odd expression, before starting to transform with a crack sound.
Now Professor Snape was wearing a frilly green dress, wearing high heels and a huge wizard hat with a deformed vulture on his head, and he was holding a red handbag with golden pearls.
If it was before I would feel bad for Professor Snape since basically a lot of students are seeing him wearing these embarrassing clothes, but after what he did to Neville I kind of feel like he deserves it.
And with that said, I joined the other students and started laughing lightly at the scene in front of me.
"Parvati! It's your turn!" Professor Lupin called.
Padma's sister then advanced forward, and immediately Boggart's confusion ended and it spun around with a loud crack, turning into a mummy.
"Ridikkulus" she cast the spell, and the Boggart ended up tripping over its own ribbons, which began to change color, leaving the mummy's ribbons vivid blue.
The class then continued with students advancing and facing the Boggart, with the creature transforming into several different things in an attempt to scare us.
I saw what my friends' biggest fear is, and some of them didn't surprise me and others did, and unexpectedly Lisa's biggest fear is not a bearded man or Santa Claus, but a strange creature that I remember seeing in a horror movie as a kid.
And with lesson still going on, I saw Harry stepping forward to face the Boggart with a brave look, and the Boggart began to transform, and I felt that all the students were now quiet and paying attention.
I could feel the nervousness and fear coming from most of them, and then I realized that like Professor Lupin, the students also thought that Harry's biggest fear was Voldemort.
When the Boggart finished transforming, Professor Lupin was already standing in front of Harry protectively, and the Boggart quickly changed from a Dementor to a full moon above the clouds of a night sky.
"Ridikkulus" Professor Lupin exclaimed, and the moon deflated like a balloon, and then he stepped to the side bringing Harry with him, still hiding him behind his back.
"Forward Neville! Finish it!" Professor Lupin said, and Neville then advanced more courage than before, and the Boggart again transformed into Professor Snape.
"Ridikkulus!" he said without stuttering and firmly, and now Snape was wearing a red lace dress that clung to his body, and under the shocked gaze of the students Neville started to laugh, and then the Boggart exploded in wisps of smoke.
The room then fell into silence, with everyone gaping at Neville who was still chuckling, propping himself up on his knees.
After a moment of silence Professor Lupin then began to clap.
"Excellent! You were amazing Neville!" he said, and the students recovered from their shock and started cheering enthusiastically as well, "Well done to all of you! Let me see... 5 points for every one who faced the Boggart, 15 to Neville for facing it twice and for having defeated it, and another five points for Harry and Hermione"
Professor Lupin then proceeded to congratulate us and give us a little homework, and meanwhile Harry was frowning at where the Boggart was when it exploded.
After that Professor Lupin dismissed us and we left the room, with my friends and the other students excitedly commenting on the lesson, and further on I could see an embarrassed Neville getting patted on the back by his classmates.
"So... Why did you go to the end of the line?" Terry asked me as he caught up with me, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I was hoping you were the first to want to face the Boggart" he said.
"Let's just say I'm not very comfortable showing my biggest fear to a lot of students, especially when the four most gossips people in the school are in the room," I said dryly.
"Hmm, makes sense" Terry said, "But I was curious to know what your biggest fear is" he said.
"Err... Terry, are you sure you want to know what Ethan's biggest fear is?" Anthony asked with an odd expression.
"What do you mean?" Terry asked confused.
"I don't know if you remember, but this is Ethan we're talking about. He faced a troll in our first year" Anthony started counting on his fingers, "He remained calm even when a bunch of hippogriffs surrounded him, his main fun at school is teasing and sometimes humiliating older students and even teachers, he is always doing something stupidly dangerous, and he can scare anyone with a look, even amortal creatures... Are you sure you want to see what his biggest fear is?" he asked.
"Now that you put it that way... Yeah, I don't think I want to know what his biggest fear is anymore" Terry said slowly.
"Well... And besides, knowing Ethan he'd probably find a way to terrorize the Boggart too" Anthony continued, and I almost laughed at the irony of it.
"You've got a good point," Terry said, and I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at them.
End.
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(End AN: When I wrote about the French wizarding ministry, I tried to imagine a grand, chic and lit place, and the crystal dome came to my mind, and ironically this is exactly what the French wizarding ministry looks like in the movie Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald.
I had forgotten that the ministry had been shown in the movie, but it seems my memory automatically associated the image of the ministry in the movie with the ministry I was imagining.
That was a very strange coincidence...)