Third Time's the Charm
The quartet entered the Great Hall the next morning and sat down at the Gryffindor table, ready to eat and eager to start the day. Percy walked over and Ron’s expression soured.
“What do you want, Percy?” Ron asked, “It’s too early for a lecture.”
Percy sniffed disdainfully. “As much as I would like to lecture you for your attitude, I’m only here to hand off your schedules which you would’ve known if you’d let me speak.” He held up a small stack of parchment.
Ron flushed in embarrassment. “Gimme that.” He snatched the schedule held out to him.
Percy huffed indignantly before passing out schedules to Harry, Seth, and Hermione.
“Hey Percy, can I ask you something?” Seth asked.
“Make it quick,” Percy impatiently said.
“How’d you get Scabbers?”
Percy frowned. “Excuse me?”
“You know, how did Scabbers end up becoming your pet?” Seth elaborated.
“Like any other garden rat. He showed up in our garden one day and stuck around long enough to become my pet,” Percy irritably answered, “Now do you have any other inane questions you would like to ask and in doing so, waste my valuable time?” Before Seth could answer, Percy answered for him. “None? Good. I need to finish passing these out. If you’ll excuse me.”
He strode off down the table with an air of self-importance.
Seth whistles lowly. “Damn. It’s like he became even more of a prick after getting that badge.”
“You’re telling me. All that power’s already gone to his head,” Ron grumbled miserably.
“Forget about him,” Harry said as he examined his schedule, “Are you guys excited to start the new classes today?”
“Sure,” Ron said unenthusiastically at the same time as Hermione enthusiastically exclaimed, “Of course!”
Seth shrugged. “Eh. We’ll see.”
Ron leaned over to look at Hermione’s schedule out of curiosity and did a double take at its contents. “Hermione! Your schedule’s all messed up. They’ve got you down for about ten subjects a day. There’s not enough time in the day to get to all of them.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ron. I’ve got it all sorted out with Professor McGonagall,” Hermione said nonplussed.
“But how?” Ron pointed at the schedule for today, “At nine o’clock you’ve got Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy! I mean, I know you’re good Hermione, but no one’s that good. How’re you supposed to be in three classes at once?”
Hermione scoffed. “Don’t be silly. I’m not going to be in three classes at once.”
“Then are you going to cycle through different classes each day and pick up notes and homework for the classes you’re not going to?” Seth asked curiously and concerned, “You’re going to work yourself into a grave either way, Hermione.”
“I’ll be fine,” she brushed off their concern, “And if I truly end up struggling in or disliking a class, I’ll be sure to drop it. Until then, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
All three boys looked at her skeptically. They all knew how even in History of Magic, the most boring class in the existence of classes, Hermione would still act as if it’s the most brilliant and engaging class ever.
“If you say so,” Ron said, not believing her for a single second.
“I do,” Hermione said shortly, “Now pass the marmalade.”
Seth was busy sorting through his stationary when most of the Gryffindors rushed into the Transfiguration classroom, barely making it with only a few minutes to spare. Harry, Hermione and Ron plopped down at the table with him, breathing hard as if they’d run a marathon.
“So how was divination?” He asked as the sole Gryffindor who chose not to take it. Not because he had no interest. Oh no. He had enough experience with seers and prophecies and the like to know that he had no business being in a class that messed with that stuff especially when knowing that that particular branch of magic could never truly be taught. That the closest people without the gift could get was to be as well taught as a muggle looking up and memorizing the meanings of symbols from a book. Anyone could learn the practice but only a rare few would have the magic needed to make it actually work.
Immediately Harry and Ron clammed up while Hermione scowled harshly. Seth blinked in surprise at the mixed reactions but wasn’t actually that surprised.
“That bad, huh?”
Hermione’s scowl deepened while a gloomy atmosphere settled around Harry and Ron, matching the mood of the rest of the Gryffindors. Seth frowned as he took in the furtive and fearful glances being sent Harry’s way, as if the bespectacled boy was going to drop dead any moment now. Before he could say anything else, McGonagall cleared her throat, announcing her presence, and the lesson began.
However, the fascinating lecture about animagi crashed before it could even take off as most of the class barely paid any attention to McGonagall when she transformed herself into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes.
“Really. What has gotten into you all today?” She asked after turning herself back, “Not that it matters but that’s the first time my transformation hasn’t gotten applause from a class.”
Everyone turned towards Harry but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.
“We’ve just had our first divination class, Professor,” she explained, exasperated.
“Ah, of course,” McGonagall nodded in understanding as she frowned harshly, “There is no need to explain further, Miss Granger. Tell me. Which of you will be dying this year?”
Everyone stared at her and then turned back to Harry who sank in his seat at the attention.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow and looked thoroughly unimpressed. “I see. Well Mister Potter, I would like to inform you that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. As none of them have died yet, I believe seeing death omens is her way of greeting a new class.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True seers are very rare and Professor Trelawney-”
She cut herself off and then spoke in a matter of fact tone. “You look to be in excellent health, Mister Potter. So you will excuse me if I don’t let you off homework today.” She switched a tone drier than the Sahara Desert. “I assure you that if you die you need not hand it in.”
Most of the class laughed, relaxing at McGonagall’s lack of concern about Harry’s predicted death. But some were unconvinced.
Ron looked particularly worried at Harry and Lavender whispered, “But what about Neville’s cup?”
When class finished, the quartet joined the crowd swarming toward the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione, Harry, and Seth dug into their food but Ron merely frowned at his still empty plate.
Hermione sighed. “Cheer up, Ron,” she said, pushing a dish of stew toward him, “You heard what McGonagall said.”
Ron half-heartedly spooned some stew onto his plate but didn’t eat it. He looked at Harry with a grave expression. “Harry. You haven’t seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?”
Harry put down his fork and thought for a moment. “Actually, I have. I saw one the night I left the Dursley’s.”
Ron dropped his fork with a clatter.
“It was probably just a stray,” Hermione said dismissively.
Ron looked at her as though she’d gone mad. “Hermione, if Harry’s seen a grim, that’s bad. My Uncle Bilius saw one and he died twenty hours later.”
“That’s just a coincidence,” she firmly rebuked.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, growing angry at her dismissal, “Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards.”
She pointed her fork at him. “And there you have it. They see the grim and die of fright. The grim’s not an omen, it’s the cause of death. And Harry’s still with us because he’s not stupid enough to see one and think ‘Right, well I’d better kick the bucket then’.”
“She’s got a point,” Harry agreed, “It’s been ages since I saw it and I’m still here.”
“But…the grim…” Ron turned to Seth who was mid bite of his shepherd's pie, “Seth, what do you think?”
Harry and Hermione eagerly turned to him as well for his answer. Seth sighed and put down his spoon as he carefully thought over his response.
“Based on what I know and experienced, I think…that Divination the class is a load of shit.”
Hermione looked triumphant. However, Seth wasn’t finished. “But Divination the magic isn’t.”
She looked at him, betrayed, while Ron looked at her in smug satisfaction.
Seth held up his hand before an argument could ensue. “Now hold on, let me explain. I agree with McGonagall that Divination is an imprecise magic. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a branch of magic that exists. The problem lies in the way you people in the Wizarding World treat it.”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked.
“Divination isn’t something you can teach,” Seth explained, “It’s a really rare gift that only a tiny amount of people are born with and even then, the gift itself varies in strength like how there might be someone who can only predict the weather or someone who dreams of future events but has no idea of when they might occur or even someone who can gift prophecies but only when the conditions are right, etc, etc.”
Harry and Hermione nodded along but Ron didn’t look convinced.
“In the case of omens however, I think it’s like tarot cards. The cards themselves already have a meaning so the fortuneteller simply tailors those meanings into a message based on the question that was asked.”
“So you’re saying in this scenario, the omens like the grim are the tarot cards?” Harry asked.
Seth nodded. “Exactly. In this case, the grim would be like the tarot card - death.”
Ron gasped. “Death?!”
Seth grabbed Ron’s forkful of stew and shoved it into his mouth before he could say anything else. “Shush. I’m not done yet.”
Ron pulled the fork out of his mouth and grumbled petulantly around his mouthful of stew.
“Anyways,” Seth continued, “A lot of people mistake the death card as meaning actual death. But that’s not true. In tarot, death means change. So you could interpret the grim in another way. That it’s not an omen of death but an indicator of some big change coming into your life and it might have to do with that dog you saw, Harry.”
“Huh,” Harry said, looking thoughtful.
Ron looked doubtful but Seth shot him a warning look to stop running his mouth and start eating. He reluctantly listened.
“Thank you for the clarification, Seth. It was enlightening,” Hermione said diplomatically, “And while I might begrudgingly agree that the sight is a form of rare magic that possibly exists, the practice of Divination is filled with too much subjectivity and guesswork for my liking.”
Ron snorted derisively. “Yeah right. You just don’t like being bad at something for a change.”
Hermione flushed an angry shade of red, looking as if violence would be the only correct response to that remark.
Seth slapped his forehead and muttered, “Foot meet mouth.” Harry nodded solemnly in agreement.
“Even if I did believe in all that hogwash, that one lesson was absolute rubbish and not worth my time or effort,” Hermione snapped at Ron, “Especially when I compare it with my arithmancy class.”
She pushed her plate away and picked up her stuffed bag. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you after lunch.” Then she got up from the table and stormed away.
Ron frowned. “What’s she talking about? She hasn’t been to an arithmancy class yet.”
He looked to Seth and Harry for answers but the two only shook their heads in exasperation and went back to eating.
The walk to Hagrid’s hut for Care of Magical Creatures was an uncomfortable one given that Ron and Hermione refused to speak or even look at each other. Harry and Seth were unfortunate to be stuck in between them as the two waged a Cold War.
Hagrid was eagerly waiting for the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins at the door of his hut.
“C’mon now, get a move on,” he impatiently gestured for the class to follow, “Got a real treat for yeh today. Great lesson comin’ up.”
He led them around the edge of the forest until they arrived at what seemed to be an empty paddock.
“Righ! Everyone gather roun’ the fence here. Make sure yeh can see now. Firs thing yeh’ll want ter do is open yer books.”
Everyone pulled out their books, carefully stroking along the spine or cover until the book shivered with a purr and opened without trouble. Clearly the bookstore clerk followed Seth’s advice and informed future buyers of it. However, there were some students who grimaced as they stroked their books before removing the bindings, having unfortunately been told long after their purchase by a fellow classmate.
Hagrid grinned at the sight, believing that everyone somehow managed to figure out how to handle the book by themselves. The Gryffindors didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise and glared at any Slytherins who looked as if they wanted to rain on his parade by telling the truth.
“Righ then. Now that yeh got yer books, turn to the section on Hippogriffs and I’ll be righ back!”
He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight as the students complied with his direction. Everyone oohed and awed at the detailed drawing of a majestic creature with the body, hind legs, and tail of horses, the front legs, wings, and head of an eagle with a steel colored beak and brilliant orange eyes.
Then Lavender squealed, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock where Hagrid returned with a horde of hippogriffs wearing thick leather collars around their necks that were attached to long chains held in Hagrid’s hands.
Despite the awe the class felt, they drew back slightly when Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.
“Beau’iful aren they?” He asked.
And they were. Seth was in awe of the fine hippogriffs before him sporting smooth coats of different colors running from stormy gray to bronze to pinkish roan to gleaming chestnut to inky black. The last time he’d seen a hippogriff was during an excursion to France that turned into a hunt for the Beast of Gevaudan and devolved into a hippogriff calvary battle against a stray demon where the beast aided them before vanishing again.
Hagrid rubbed his hands together and beamed in anticipation. “Alrigh then. Yeh wan ter come a bit nearer firs.”
No one seemed to want to except Seth who eagerly approached the fence with Harry, Ron, and Hermione cautiously following after.
“Now first thing yeh gotta know abou hippogriffs is they’re proud and easily offended. Don’t never insult one cause it might be the last thing yeh do,” Hagrid began his lecture, “Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the first move. It’s polite see. Yeh walk toward ‘em an yeh bow an yeh wait. If they bow back, yeh’re allowed ter touch em. If they don’t, then get away from em sharpish cause those talons hurt.”
The class nodded along, warily eyeing said talons.
“Righ! Who wants ter go first?”
Most of the class backed farther away in answer. Even Harry, Ron and Hermione had misgivings as they watched the hippogriffs toss their heads and flex their wings. However, Seth eagerly raised his hand and waved it about.
“Good man, Seth!” Hagrid exclaimed with a grin, “Righ then. Let’s see how yeh get on with Buckbeak.”
Seth clambered over the fence as Hagrid untied one of the chains and pulled a gray hippogriff away before slipping off its collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath as Seth carefully approached the hippogriff while maintaining steady eye contact.
“Easy now Seth,” Hagrid quietly instructed, “Yeh’ve got eye contact now. Try not to blink too much.”
Buckbeak turned his head and stared at Seth with one fierce orange eye. Seth stared back unflinchingly before bowing deeply.
“Good! That’s it.”
Everyone waited with bated breath as the hippogriff continued to remain unmoving.
“Ah, righ, back away now,” Hagrid said, sounding worried, “Easy does it.”
But Seth didn’t move, staying firmly bowed until Buckbeak suddenly bent his front knees and sank into a bowing position as well.
“Well done!” Hagrid praised, clapping for a job well done, “Righ, yeh can touch him now.”
Seth straightened and eagerly approached Buckbeak to pat him along his beak and feathered head with strong and gentle strokes. Buckbeack closed his eyes and leaned into Seth’s touch. The class broke into applause.
“I reckon he might let yeh ride him now,” Hagrid said, “Yeh climb up there just behind the wing joint an mind yeh don pull any of his features out. He won like that.”
Seth complied, easily putting his foot on top of the wing joint before swinging himself onto Buckbeak’s back. Once he was settled in, Buckbeak stood up.
“Go on then!” Hagrid shouted and slapped Buckbeak’s hind quarters.
Twelve foot wings flapped open on either side and with a mighty push, they were soaring into the air. Seth let out a whoop and raised his hands up like he was on a roller coaster as Buckbeak flew them high above the paddock in a loop before landing back down on the ground with a heavy thud.
“Good job!” Hagrid praised. “Now who else wants to go?”
Emboldened by Seth’s success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock as Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one and soon people were bowing nervously all over. Neville ran repeatedly backwards from his despite Seamus and Dean encouraging him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione practiced on the chestnut hippogriff while Seth watched. Lavender and Parvati paired up with Pansy and Daphne as they cooed and squealed over the pinkish roan hippogriff. Theodore and Blaise were trying to figure out how to climb onto the bronze hippogriff.
And Draco, Vince, and Greg had gone over to Buckbeak. He bowed to Draco who was now patting his beak with an almost delighted expression.
Nearby, Millicent and Tracy were patting the inky black hippogriff until it flicked its head suddenly, startling Millicent into dropping her monster book. The book made hard contact with the ground and went into a biting frenzy and shuffled its way to Buckbeak. Seth dove for the book and calmed it with a quick stroke but the damage was already done.
Buckbeak reared back in surprise and his front leg made harsh contact with a caught off guard Draco. A loud crack could be clearly heard.
Draco yelled out in pain as he clutched his broken arm and chaos descended upon the paddock
Hagrid wrestled Buckbeak into his collar and Buckbeak threw his head back in response before settling down with an angry huff. Hagrid swiftly tied the rest of the hippogriffs’ chains to the post. “Someone help me! Gotta get him outta here!”
Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid rushed to Draco and lifted him easily. He ran with him up the slope toward the castle.
The shaken class followed at a brisk pace and they all climbed the stone steps into the deserted entrance hall.
“I’m going to see if he’s okay,” Pansy said and they all watched her run up the marble staircase.
With the Care of Magical Creatures class having come to such an abrupt end, the students had no clue what to do except return to their respective common rooms.
“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Hermione nervously asked.
“Of course he will,” Harry said confidently, “If Madame Pomfrey could mend my boneless arm, she’ll be able to fix a broken one no problem.”
“What rotten luck for something like that to happen in Hagrid’s first class though,” Ron remarked with a sigh.
Seth nodded solemnly in agreement.
Hagrid never showed up for dinner that night but he did appear for breakfast the next morning.
He looked terrible. His face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles underneath. He looked as if he’d spent the whole night drinking and didn’t get a wink of sleep.
The quartet were worried and wanted to speak with him but then they saw how the professors rallied around him. Sprout and Flitwick were speaking with him encouragingly, Sinistra was piling food onto his plate, McGonagall placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she passed by on the way to her seat, and even Snape helped by giving him a drink that must’ve been a hangover cure as he immediately looked better upon drinking it.
So the quartet stayed away, trusting their professors to help one of their own.
However, no one saw Draco until late Thursday morning when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double potions.
He slunk into the classroom with his right arm in a cast and bound in a sling.
“How is it, Draco? Does it hurt much?” Pansy asked in concern.
“Not too much anymore,” he responded with a grimace, “Just uncomfortable and itchy.”
“Settle down, settle down,” Snape snapped before giving Draco a glare of disapproval. “Mr. Malfoy, it would have been better for you to either appear at the beginning of the class or not come at all. I don’t appreciate the interruption.”
“I apologize, Professor Snape,” Draco said, wilting slightly under the weight of his Head of House’s disapproval, “Madam Pomfrey didn’t release me until now and I really didn’t want to miss any more classes.”
Snape sighed. “Very well. I won’t take any points but this is your first and only warning.” He glared at the rest of the students. “The same goes for the rest of you. Either arrive on time or don’t bother coming at all. Interruptions will not be tolerated.”
And with that, Snape continued the lesson.
Draco set up his cauldron in the only available spot which was next to Seth and behind Harry and Ron.
They were currently preparing ingredients for the potion. Draco was struggling to properly cut up his daisy roots and skin his shrivel figs. He was putting up a valiant effort but there was really only so much one could do with one working hand and the end results were uneven root slices and a mutilated shrivel fig.
Seth sighed in exasperation and grabbed the ingredients. “Dude, give it here. I can’t keep looking at this anymore. You’d be lucky if your potion doesn’t explode in your face with the way your ingredients look.”
Draco scowled and let him do as he pleased. “Thanks, I guess…” he muttered.
Seth smiled. “Always happy to help. How’s your arm by the way? Madam Pomfrey wasn’t able to fix it?”
Draco grimaced as he resisted the urge to scratch at his arm. “It wasn’t a clean break. There were too many fragments so she had to heal it bit by bit and then put me in the cast for the rest because she didn’t want my body to grow resistant to healing magic.”
“Huh,” Seth said as he expertly sliced the uneven roots into thin, even pieces, “You can build a resistance to healing magic?”
Draco shrugged with one shoulder. “Apparently.”
Seth hummed and turned his attention back to the ingredients. Draco leaned forward and quietly asked the other boys, “Seen Hagrid lately?”
Harry looked back at him. “Just this morning at breakfast. Why?”
“I’m worried he might not be a professor much longer,” Draco quietly admitted, “Father was informed of my injury and he complained to the school governors and the Ministry of Magic.”
Ron, Harry, and Seth exchanged concerned looks before they all turned back to their potions after receiving a glare of warning from Snape.
“Hey Harry,” Seamus whispered conspiratorially as he leaned over to borrow Harry’s brass scales, “Have you heard?”
“Heard what?” Harry whispered back.
“This morning’s Daily Prophet said they reckon Sirius Black’s been sighted,” Seamus nervously said.
“Where?” Harry and Ron both quietly exclaimed in alarm. Draco and Seth looked up from their potions with matching expressions of apprehension.
“Not too far from here,” Seamus responded, “It was muggle who saw him. She phoned the telephone hotline but by the time the Ministry got there, he was gone!”
“Not too far from here?!” Ron repeated, barely managing to keep his voice low. He then turned around and saw Draco frowning severely. “What?”
Draco shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just-” He looked at Harry. “We really need to talk.”
“Why?” Harry asked, confused.
Draco scowled at Harry as if he were stupid. “Because it’s really important. That’s why.”
Harry frowned back. “But-”
“You should have finished adding your ingredients by now,” Snape called out, interrupting him, “This potion needs to stew before it can be drunk so clear away while it simmers.”
The students began packing away their ingredients and taking their things to wash in the basins at the corner of the classroom.
“What do you think Malfoy wants to tell you that’s so important?” Ron whispered to Harry.
Harry shrugged. “Dunno. But it’s got to be pretty important if he keeps insisting on it.”
After potions, as the quartet climbed the stairs to the entrance hall, Harry was still thinking about what Draco wanted to talk to him about.
“Do you think he knows something about Black? Malfoy I mean,” he asked the others.
Ron scrunched his face as he thought about it. “Possibly? I mean, I think he’s got ties to the Black family through his mum so maybe she told him something.”
“But what do you think it could be?” Harry wondered.
“Maybe it has something to do with why Black might be after you?” Seth suggested, “Cause you gotta admit, it’s a weird leap in logic for someone to go kill a kid just because they managed to stop an evil overlord when they were a baby. Like what would killing you do other than throw him back in jail? What’s his motive? Cause it’s not as if he’s Voldemort’s right hand man or lover or something right?”
Ron flinched at Seth’s usage of Voldemort’s name. Then he made a face as the rest of his words registered and he shuddered. “Please never say something like that again. You Know Who having a lover is a really disgusting thought. Besides, Black is probably just a madman now given all that time he spent in Azkaban. There wouldn’t be any logic to his thoughts now would there.”
Seth sighed. “You’re probably right.” Then he turned to Hermione. “What do you think, Hermione?” Only to see that she wasn’t there anymore. “Uh, Hermione?”
Harry and Ron also turned around and didn’t see Hermione anywhere. They were at the top of the stairs now and had a good view of the students walking towards the Great Hall for lunch.
“She was right behind us!” Ron exclaimed, dumbfounded by the vanishing act.
“There she is,” Harry said, pointing her out in the crowd.
The boys saw Hermione hurrying up the stairs with one hand clutching her bag and the other tucking something down the front of her robes. Seth narrowed his eyes at the glint of shimmering gold he managed to catch sight of.
“How did you do that?” Ron demanded more than asked once Hermione caught up to them.
“Do what?” She asked.
“One minute you were right behind us, the next you were back at the bottom of the stairs again!”
“What?” Hermione tilted her head in confusion. Then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! I had to go back for something.”
They all looked at her bag which was beginning to split due to all the large and heavy books crammed inside. Seth shook his head at the sight and helped take a few books out to lighten the load and make sure the bag didn’t break apart right then and there.
“Thanks Seth,” Hermione said gratefully.
Seth nodded. “No problem but uh, why do you have so many books?”
“You know how many subjects I’m taking,” she easily answered.
Ron closely examined the books Seth was holding. “But why do you have these books? You haven’t got any of these subjects today. And it’s only Defense against the Dark Arts this afternoon.”
“It’s just part of the arrangement I’ve made with McGonagall,” Hermione said, deflecting the subject. She pulled out her wand and cast reducio on the books in Seth’s arms. She took them back and put them into her bag, now significantly lighter and not as stuffed. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I hope there’s something good for lunch. I’m starving.”
She marched off towards the Great Hall without another word.
“Do you get the feeling she’s not telling us something?” Ron obliviously asked.
Seth deadpanned. “Oh no, really? What gave that away?”
The abandoned staff room Professor Lupin took the third year Gryffindors to for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was quiet as almost everyone shut their eyes tight and tried to imagine a way to make their fear less frightening.
Seth was also thinking about his fear. It was easy - the corpse of the stingbulb duplicate of his sister. The solution was even easier - the corpse turning back to a stingbulb and growing cartoon arms and legs so it could do a little jig with a cane and a top hat.
However, his thoughts were also preoccupied by the boggart. It was a shapeshifting creature that changed into a person’s greatest fear. Given his unique disposition, would the boggart be able to change at all since it technically used magic to create fear or did shapeshifting abilities not technically count as magic? It was a really interesting question that Seth couldn’t wait to see answered.
“Everyone ready?” Lupin called out.
Everyone nodded, rolled up their sleeves, and tightly gripped their wands.
Lupin grinned at their gumption. “Right then. Neville, you’ll go first. We’re going to back away, let you have a clear field. I’ll call the next person forward after. Everyone keep backing up so he can get a clear shot.”
Everyone retreated to the walls leaving Neville alone in front of the rattling wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened but steadily held his wand at the ready.
“On the count of three,” Lupin said, pointing his wand at the handle of the wardrobe. “One. Two. Three!”
He jerked his wand with a sharp motion and the wardrobe door burst open. Professor Snape stepped out in all his menacing glory and began bearing down at Neville.
“R-Riddikulus!” Neville exclaimed with all the confidence he could muster.
With a sharp crack, Snape stumbled and suddenly he was wearing a long lace trimmed green dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture while a huge crimson handbag swung on his arm.
There was a roar of laughter from everyone at the sight.
“Parvati, forward!” Lupin cried out with a grin.
Parvati walked forward and Snape rounded on her. There was a crack and in his place was a blood-stained mummy. It began to walk towards her very slowly, raising its stiff arms to grab at her.
“Riddikulus!”
The bandages unraveled at the mummy’s feet and it tripped face forward with a comedic splat.
Lupin waved her back. “Seamus!”
Seamus stepped up and with a crack, the mummy turned into a banshee with floor length black hair and a skeletal green tinged face. She opened her mouth and an unearthly sound filled the room.
“Riddikulus!”
The banshee made a high-pitched squeaking sound as if she’d just swallowed a mouthful of helium and she clutched at her throat in confusion.
Crack!
The banshee turned into a pitch black rat with red eyes.
Crack!
The rat became a rattle snake that hissed and shook its tail ominously.
Crack!
It turned into a bloody eyeball that rolled around on the floor.
“It’s confused! We’re getting there!” Lupin cheerfully crowed, “Dean!”
Dean rushed forward. With a crack, the eyeball became a severed hand that flipped over and began to creep along the floor towards him.
“Riddikulus!”
Another crack and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.
“Excellent!” Lupin praised, “Seth, you’re next.”
Seth confidently marched forward to confront the boggart.
However, instead of changing into his fear, it began to shift rapidly through various forms as if it couldn’t parse out what Seth’s fear was. Finally, it stopped shifting and settled into a black amorphous blob that resembled putty and laid there harmlessly on the floor.
Everyone looked at the blob in confusion and then at Seth because there was no way his greatest fear was a black blob. He shrugged at them, also confused. Then everyone turned to Lupin who was also taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
“Uh, is that supposed to happen, Professor?” Seth asked.
“No,” Lupin answered, utterly bewildered, “Just to check, that’s not your fear, correct?”
“Nope.”
“Huh…”
“Do you think this is the boggart’s true form, professor?” Hermione speculated, examining the blob with fascination.
That speculation immediately sent the students into a tailspin. They muttered amongst themselves that if that was the boggart’s true form then that must mean Seth had no fear for the boggart to detect. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Seth did indeed have fears but it seemed the boggart was unable to use its shapeshifting magic to induce those fears because of his immunity to magic induced fear. Well, at least the question had been answered so even though Seth didn’t manage to use Riddikulus, he still learned something valuable.
Lupin clapped his hands to get the class’ attention. “Settle down now, please. Apologies Seth but it seems you won’t be able to truly participate in the exercise.”
“Eh, it’s all good. Uh, sorry about that,” Seth said as he waved at the blob.
“It’s alright. Just step back now and I’ll call the next student forward.” Lupin gestured to Ron. “Ron! If you please.”
Ron leapt forward as Seth stepped back. There was a crack and a giant six feet tall spider appeared. Quite a few people understandably screamed at the sight.
The spider advanced on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly.
“Riddikulus!”
With a crack, roller skates attached to the spider’s legs and it flailed about uselessly until its body crashed onto the floor with a bang.
“You’re up next, Harry!”
Harry ran forward and with a crack, the spider shifted into the towering cloaked form of a dementor, stunning everyone as the temperature in the room dropped.
It drifted toward Harry until it was close enough to touch and began to take in a deep breath.
“Harry!” Seth cried out to his friend as he stood frozen in place.
His cry snapped Lupin into action and he jumped in between Harry and the boggart. There was a harsh crack and the boggart shifted into a silvery white orb that hung in the air.
“Riddikulus!”
Another crack and the orb turned into a deflating balloon that flew around the room, startling chuckles and giggles out of the students as the released air came out in high pitch squeaks and quick spurts. Lupin used his wand to guide the boggart back into the wardrobe where the door slammed shut with a bang. He flicked his wand and the wardrobe locked with a soft click.
He then turned to address the class with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. That’ll be enough for today. Excellent first lesson everyone! Well done! Let me see, five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart and twenty points to Seth for letting us see something not thought to ever be possible. For homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me, to be handed in on Monday. That will be all.”
The class grumbled and groaned at the dismissal, especially those who hadn’t had a chance to have a go at the boggart. But they did leave the staffroom, talking excitedly about what happened.
“That was the best Defense against the Dark Arts lesson we’ve ever had, wasn’t it?” Ron excitedly asked.
“It’s not like there was a high bar to clear but yeah, it was pretty great,” Seth agreed.
Hermione nodded. “Professor Lupin seems like a very good teacher. But I wish I could’ve had a turn with the boggart.”
Ron snorted at the thought. “What would it have been for you? A piece of homework that only got a nine out of ten?‘
She scowled and smacked him on the arm for his cheek.
“Ow!” Ron rubbed his arm petulantly. “What did you do that for?”
Hermione simply turned away with a huff and walked off.
“Hermione? Hermione!” Ron called out as he ran after her.
Seth grinned at the two and asked Harry, “How long do you think it’ll take before they get together?”
When he received no answer, he looked over and saw Harry lost in his thoughts with a glum expression. He nudged the other gently. “Harry?”
Harry snapped to attention. “Oh, um, what did you say, Seth?”
Seth eyed him in concern. “You good there, buddy?”
“Er…”
“Is it about the boggart?” Seth asked with an understanding expression.
Harry slumped and nodded dejectedly. “Yeah…I…wasn’t expecting it to turn into a dementor so I just froze like an idiot…”
“Maybe you can ask Professor Lupin for tips on how to deal with dementors later,” Seth suggested, “He seems to be actually knowledgeable about the subject he’s teaching.”
“I guess…”
Seth thumped him encouragingly on the back. “Chin up, Harry. There’s no shame in being afraid. Lots of people freeze up when confronted with their fears.”
“Except you,” Harry jokingly rebuked, “That boggart didn’t turn into anything with you. Got any tips on how to be fearless like that?”
Seth laughed nervously. “Er, not really. I’m a special case. You know, cause I’m American and all that.”
“Right…” Harry said, now eyeing him skeptically.
“Anyways, let’s go catch up to Ron and Hermione before they kill each other,” Seth said, picking up the pace to catch up with the others, “Now seriously, how long do you think it’ll take them both to realize they like each other?”