The Boggart in the Wardrobe
Dinner that evening was a somewhat quiet affair. Harry and the others had sat through an extremely tedious lesson on wizarding law just before dinner that seemed to focus on the statute of secrecy and the decree for the reasonable restriction of underage wizardry. Harry was pretty sure that Lucius had thrown away his original plan for their lesson when he realised how little the next generation understood the decree that so closely affected their lives earlier that day. While Harry had found the content of the lesson to have merit, he had to admit that the law didn't really interest him. Not the way it seemed to interest Hermione at least. Sure, he'd like to improve it, make it more fair for all, but he didn't want to spend hours going over old laws.
There seemed to be a contagious sort of tiredness around everyone as they returned to the chamber for a lecture on muggle from Ted and the two Arthurs.
These special evening sessions were some of the few times that the entire chamber came together except when they were reading the books. And Harry quite liked them, if only because they weren't reading about his childhood for once.
Ted called for their attention and immediately everyone quietened down. Harry was sure this would be interesting. A lot of the purebloods in the chamber would be surprised by some of the things they might learn about the muggles. Harry was surprised to note that Tom looked apprehensive. So far, most people had simply tried to avoid him. Rarely meeting his eye or speaking directly to him. It didn't seem to matter that the man was unarmed. They were still scared of him. Harry wasn't sure he believed him that he wanted to help, but against his better judgement he found himself willing to give the older wix a chance.
He seemed to be one of the few willing though.
"Wizarding folk have a tendency to underestimate non magicals," Ted said by way of introduction to the topic. There were a couple of scoffs from some of the purebloods in the chamber but mostly everyone paid attention. "While our society is slow to change, their's grows and evolves at a rate that is unparalleled by any wixen society on this planet."
More scoffs. Slightly louder now.
"Non magicals, muggles, nomajs - whatever you want to call them - would believe many of our traditions to be obsolete and not just old fashioned but archaic."
Several of the purebloods looked ready to argue why their traditions were so important.
"That isn't to say that our traditions and beliefs should be put aside," Ted continued. "I only mention it because it is important to know how we differ from our non magical brethren, just as much as it is important to know in what ways we are similar. Arranged marriages for example are something that most in nomaj Britain would look upon with disdain. They value their autonomy, but more than that marriage itself is on the decline in their world."
"They don't marry?" Theo asked in shock.
"Some do, many do in fact, Ted said, "but it is something that they tend to do later in life if at all."
"But what about children?" Astoria asked.
"They still have children - though even their population is declining as families are smaller and more and more people are choosing not to have offspring - but those that have children sometimes do so outside of wedlock."
"But children born outside of wedlock often miss out on their family magic!" Draco exclaimed.
"Something that has no baring for nomajs," Ted said softly. "Nomajs do not seek Mother Magic's favour in their unions, the way we wixen do."
There was a pause before Ted continued, "As I was saying our worlds are very different and their's in changing far quicker than ours is. Mostly because their population is so much greater. In the twentieth century alone Nomaj Britain has face two world wars, an economic depression, the rise of nuclear weaponry, a race to be the first country to put a man on the moon, the invention of communication devices that would revolutionise the way their world works, not to mention many many more inventions from the vacuum cleaner - which Nomajs still use today to clean their homes - to aircraft that carry millions of people around the world each day. They invented computers and televisions and the world wide web. New compounds such as stainless steel and plastic were created. Even self-driving cars - although these are not marketed yet to the common public, even though the very first one was created in the seventies. In this time their understanding of the human body has increased too with the discovery of the human genome and something called DNA."
Everyone now looked very confused.
"I don't even know what half of that means," Tom Riddle said quietly.
"Exactly!" Ted said somewhat excitably. "We do not understand half of what our nomaj brothers and sisters are capable of and so as I said before, we have been grossly negligent. We underestimate them."
"Yeah, but we aren't going to learn about all that stuff here are we?" Draco asked, feeling a little overwhelmed.
"No. I'm not convinced we'll be here long enough to truly appreciate what the nomajs have achieved in the last hundred years or so," Ted said. "Not with how quickly we are working our way through the books. Instead we will focus on what effects us."
There were several sighs of relief.
"Starting with their ability to communicate instantaneously," Arthur said, stepping forward. "I sometimes mispronounce this so bear with me but most non magicals have something called a felletone. No. That's not right. A telephone. If you have another person's telephone number you can call them and speak directly to them, regardless of how far away you are."
By the time their lecture had come to an end everyone seemed to have new respect for the muggles. Hermione had to grudgingly accept that the two Arthurs and Ted had given an accurate evaluation of the muggle world as she knew it. They had spoken of non magical warfare and telecommunications, and some of the ways that the muggle world seemed to developing and what that might mean for the magical world and their secrecy in the future. She didn't like how scared it seemed to make everyone but she had to accept that not everyone was as open minded about muggles as she was. After all, not all muggles were like her parents.
With the lecture over, everyone went to their beds still talking about their new understanding of the muggle world, but also eagerly anticipating the reading of the next chapter the following morning.
When morning came, no one complained when they had to wake up early for their defense lesson, eager to carry on reading the book. And when everyone entered the chamber after breakfast, it was as if everyone expected someone new to appear in the chamber. This did not happen though as Professor Flitwick started up the book once more.
Malfoy didn't reappear in classes... as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.
Lucius and Narcissa glared at their son. They knew full well that he'd been healed almost instantly.
"How is it, Draco?"... wink at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy had looked away.
"Lying little cheat," George muttered.
"Settle down, settle down,"... he'd have given them detention.
Severus frowned at that. Was he as prejudiced against the other houses as his older self seemed to be? He'd have to watch out for that. While he tried to protect the Slytherins from the worst of the prejudice against them, he didn't want to do a disservice to the other houses. He just knew someone had to protect his snakes.
But Malfoy had always been able to get away... favored his own students above all others.
Minerva tutted, glaring at Severus. He was still struggling to understand what he had done to offend his old friend.
They were making a new potion today... preparing their ingredients on the same table.
"Why would you do that?" George asked. "You always sat with the Slytherins."
"I'm sure my reasons will come up," Draco muttered.
"Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help... Ron went brick red.
"Ah, that's the reason," George said with a sigh. "Anything to piss off Ron and Harry."
"GEORGE!" Mrs Weasley screeched.
"What? It's the truth," George said with a shrug.
"There's nothing wrong... so that they were all different sizes.
"Ronald!" Mrs Weasley complained. "You might not want to help him, but if your teacher asks you to do something, do it properly."
"Professor," drawled Malfoy... "Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley. "
"That's fair," Mrs Weasley said.
"But, sir -!"... then took up the knife again.
Mrs Weasley nodded her head in agreement with the professor, causing Ron to glare at her.
"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned... Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever.
"I hope you skinned that properly, Harry," Mrs Weasley said tersely, earning a glare from Sirius. While he agreed with her, he didn't appreciate her trying to parent his grown up son - godson - whichever he was.
"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?"... "Father's not very happy about my injury -"
"I never threatened Mr Hagrid's job," Lucius said sharply.
"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," snarled Ron.
"RONALD!" Mrs Weasley looked horrified. "Violence is not the answer."
He's complained to the school governors... ever be the same again?"
There was a vein ticking in Lucius's temple.
"So that's why you're putting it on,"... Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me. "
"What other benefits?" Lucius hissed angrily. He didn't like being used, even by his son.
A few cauldrons away... fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse.
Augusta glared at Snape.
His potion... does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours?
"Severus!" Minerva huffed angrily.
"I haven't done it yet," Severus said. It felt like a stupid argument even to his own ears.
Didn't you hear me say... He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
Neville put a hand on his grandmother's arm. There was no point in her kicking off at this Snape. As the man had said, he hadn't done it yet. And Neville had a feeling he probably wouldn't either. The chamber was changing things.
"Please, sir," said Hermione... Hermione went as pink as Neville.
Professor Sprout tutted. The girl had just wanted to help her friend. That was hardly showing off.
"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson... Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly. "
"Absolutely not!" bellowed Augusta. Apparently, the witch could not be contained. "That is not a reasonable teaching method."
"I would have to agree with you," Severus said softly. "I won't apologise for what I haven't done. But I can promise, it will not happen in the future."
Snape moved away... they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."
Sirius's ears picked up at the mention of himself.
"Where?"... By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."
"If he was there in the first place," Kingsley said. "We had a lot of fake sightings."
"Not too far from here... Black single-handed, Potter?"
"Why would he do that?" young Hermione asked crossly.
"Yeah, that's right," said Harry offhandedly.
"Harry! You mustn't!" young Mrs Weasley said.
"No understanding of sarcasm," Sirius muttered.
Malfoy's thin mouth was curving... I'd be out there looking for him. "
"Why?" several of the younger ones demanded.
Harry could feel his anger bubbling away under the surface. "See, even Malfoy knew more than I did!"
"What are you talking about... "Know what?"
Lucius was glaring at his son again. He didn't know his son could be so cruel.
Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh... I'd hunt him down myself."
"Sure, you would," Narcissa said almost as snidely as her son had.
"What are you talking about?"... so that Snape wouldn't see.
Augusta smiled at the young woman.
Harry and Ron packed away... He hasn't done anything to me - yet."
"That's the problem with not telling me stuff," Harry said crossly. "It leaves me open to be manipulated by others."
Some of the adults looked uncomfortable but no one said anything.
"He's making it up,"... his toad is likely to be poisoned."
Minerva gritted her teeth. Why hadn't her lions told her about this?
The Gryffindors watched fearfully... and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.
"Well done, Neville," Augusta said, smiling triumphantly at him.
"Five points from Gryffindor,"... Class dismissed. "
"That wasn't fair!" Minerva huffed angrily.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps... You should've said Neville did it all by himself!"
"I doubt my older self would have believed her," Severus said.
Hermione didn't answer... "Where is she?"
"Did she just vanish?" young Ron asked.
Harry turned too... something down the front of her robes.
"Ah, the time turner," Bill said.
"How did you do that?"... you were back at the bottom of the stairs again."
"If you weren't going to tell your friends," Percy said, "you should have been better at lying."
"What?"... crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books.
"Even if you're taking that many subjects," Bill said, "you shouldn't have needed dozens of books every day." He certainly never needed that many. "Or you could have swapped them out over lunch."
"Why are you carrying all these... It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."
Several people chuckled. They wondered how long Granger would be able to keep the time turner a secret.
"Oh yes," said Hermione vaguely... Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry.
"Obviously," Percy and Bill said together.
Professor Lupin wasn't there... as though he had had a few square meals.
Remus blushed. He could understand why Harry wasn't enjoying this experience.
"Good afternoon,"... They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before,
"And there's the proof the teaching has been sub par so far," Amelia said.
unless you counted ... a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.
"Don't remind us!" several people complained.
"Right then,"... "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin -"
"Peeves and I are old friends," Remus said.
"That's one world for it," Sirius laughed.
Rude and unmanageable... he was still smiling.
"I quite like Peeves," Remus sighed.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole... "Please watch closely."
"That's Remus for you," Sirius said, "everything is an opportunity to teach."
He was a bit surprised Remus hadn't introduced himself to Harry yet, but he supposed it was still their first lesson.
He raised the wand to shoulder height... he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
Several people laughed at that. Some of the younger ones asking Remus to teach them the spell.
"Cool, sir!"... Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."
Augusta looked ready to throw spells at the potions master.
Neville went scarlet... "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."
Augusta looked pleased, nodding at Remus.
Neville's face went, if possible, even redder... "There's a Boggart in there. "
"Oh, this will be interesting," the aurors said, all sitting forward.
Most people seemed to feel... I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock.
"That one was at your grandparents' home, Harry," Remus said softly.
This one moved in yesterday afternoon... "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most. "
"You should really wait to be called, Miss Granger," Flitwick said squeakily.
"Couldn't have put it better myself,"... he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.
Moody almost considered telling them what a boggart looked like but he really didn't want to slow down the reading. It wasn't like it really mattered.
"This means,"... was very off-putting, but Harry had a go.
Hermione looked momentarily ashamed. She hadn't meant to put him off.
"Er - because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Very good, Mr Potter," Minerva said.
"Precisely," said Professor Lupin... looking a little disappointed.
"You can't answer all the questions, dear," her mother said soothingly.
"It's always best to have company... After me, please. . . riddikulus!"
Everyone in the chamber was paying close attention, they were eager to know what Harry feared. Or at least that's what Harry thought.
"Riddikulus!" ... but no noise came out.
Augusta frowned. She hated it when Neville mumbled.
"I didn't catch that... "Professor Snape. "
Severus looked genuinely sad to hear that he was one of his student's greatest fear. Yes, he would have to fix that.
Nearly everyone laughed... I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either. "
Augusta frowned. Was her grandson scared of her too?
"No, no, you misunderstand me,"... your grandmother usually wears?"
Severus frowned. He knew where this was leading. He focused on his occlumency shields. He would not let his embarrassment show.
Neville looked startled... with that big red handbag. "
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. No one dared laugh.
There was a great shout of laughter... What scared him most in the world?
Everyone leaned forward. This angered Harry even more. Even his deepest fears were not allowed to be private. It wasn't fair.
His first thought was Lord Voldemort... then a cold so penetrating it felt like drowning...
"Dementors," Sirius murmured. "Your greatest fear is dementors?"
Harry shrugged.
Harry shivered... everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.
"Good question Harry," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around his godson.
"Neville, we're going to back away,"... Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.
"You can do it Neville!" several people cried out in support.
"R - r - riddikulus! " ... and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.
"Well done, Mr Longbottom," Severus said surprising everyone.
There was a roar of laughter... a banshee.
"I hate banshees," Seamus muttered.
She opened her mouth wide... clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
Sirius silently wondered if they could do that to Mrs Weasley.
Crack! The banshee turned into a rat... A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron,
Young Ron looked truly terrified as he cowered behind his brothers.
clicking its pincers menacingly... He raised his wand, ready, but -
"Oh, no," Sirius said, "what now?"
"Here!"... who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.
Sirius frowned at his friend who shrugged. He didn't know why his older self had done it either.
Crack!... burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.
There was a round of applause.
"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin... at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly.
"I thought you thought I was weak because I fainted on the train," Harry admitted quietly to Remus.
"I don't think that was my reasoning," Remus said. If he had to hazard a guess, he imagined that his older self feared that the young boy would be scared of Lord Voldemort. And he couldn't have that monster materialising in the staff room.
"Very well, everyone... Had he thought Harry would pass out again?
Remus looked down at the young man. "I wouldn't think that."
But no one else seemed to have noticed anything... frightened of crystal balls?" said Lavender thoughtfully.
Sirius and Remus shared a look at that.
"That was the best... "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"
"RONALD!" Mrs Weasley screeched at her son AGAIN.