Chapter 107: Boggart

The first week of school started on Thursday. Harry felt deep regret that he couldn't experience Dr. Bean's and Hagrid's classes as soon as possible, but Thursday also had a Defense Against the Dark Arts class that he was very much looking forward to. Harry couldn't wait to learn the Patronus Charm.

Of course, before starting Defense Against the Dark Arts, he still had to take Professor Snape's Potions class. Snape looked not so good today; his complexion was extremely gloomy. Harry had reason to suspect it was because of Lupin, because when he and Luo En talked about Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was directly deducted one point by Snape, even though class hadn't started yet.

The content of the Potions class was Ageing Potion. Harry felt there was no difficulty in this; he cut his materials quickly and well and began to brew the potion with a slow fire.

"Hey, Harry." Ma Erfu leaned over. "You should have heard, right? About Sirius Black's prison break."

"Of course, now this matter is basically known to everyone." Harry looked at his potion and said absentmindedly.

"In fact, I heard that someone found his tracks nearby." Ma Erfu whispered. "It should have been reported by a Muggle, so she didn't realize the seriousness of the matter: that place is very close to Hogwarts."

"So what? Are you worried that Black will try to sneak in here?" Harry said. "With Dumbledore's spells and the Ministry of Magic's jailers guarding the school, he won't have any chance."

"But he escaped from Azkaban. He has a way to escape from a prison with tighter guards and stronger spells. There's no guarantee he doesn't have the ability to sneak into Hogwarts. I don't want this kind of thing to happen." Ma Erfu said.

"Oh?" Harry remembered that they actually had a common secret society.

"I intend to invite the members of Torchwood to gather together this Sunday to discuss how to prevent Black's attack." Ma Erfu said his true purpose.

"Although I quite doubt whether there are sufficient feasible and effective measures, keeping a part of vigilance against possible threats at least won't make things worse." Harry used a long, difficult sentence to euphemistically express the meaning of "better than nothing."

"What are you talking about? Potter?" Snape's gloomy gaze was cast over.

"Uh, we are exchanging experiences on brewing potions." Harry brushed it off.

"Let me see..." Snape scooped up some potion from Harry's cauldron with a small spoon and fed it to the test toad. It swallowed it, then poof, it turned into a tadpole, jumping in Snape's palm.

"Very good potion, it seems exchanging experiences is indeed helpful." Snape said coldly. "One point to each house."

After class, Luo En was still angrily evaluating Snape's behavior, saying that Gryffindor got nothing, while Slytherin got one point for nothing.

"Relax, Luo En." Harry comforted him. "We will win it all back on the court."

"Oh, Hermione." Luo En waved in one direction, but she didn't reply at all and ran away hurriedly.

"Hermione is behind you." Zhang Qiu suddenly popped out from somewhere.

Harry and Luo En looked back. Indeed, Hermione had just walked out of the classroom, holding her Potions textbook.

"Alright, I guess I saw it wrong." Luo En scratched his head. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"First Potions class, why didn't you argue with Ma Erfu? Why didn't you help him process the medicinal materials." Zhang Qiu said with dissatisfaction. Since the train, Harry had felt that her mood was not very stable.

"Forget it, at least you saw Hermione, a mosquito leg is also meat." She muttered. "Sorry, I'm under a lot of pressure, forgot about this. I'm leaving first."

"So, was it really Hermione you saw?" Harry paused. "Could it be the person who impersonated Neville last year? Is he planning to impersonate Hermione this year?"

"Don't know, who cares. Let's go eat, I'm starving." Luo En didn't want to keep so many conspiracies in his heart; he liked to meet moves with moves.

During lunch, Harry noticed that Lupin was also eating at the professors' table. His complexion looked much better.

"I have to find an opportunity to ask more about the Patronus Charm." Harry whispered.

"Why not buy a shield and try physical Patronus?" Luo En said with a chicken leg in his mouth, slurring his words.

When Harry arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lupin hadn't come yet. The students discussed for a long time, and it wasn't until one minute before class that Lupin walked into the classroom.

"Put the books away, children, we are having a practical class." As soon as Lupin opened his mouth, he won everyone's favor; no one liked dry theory.

Lupin took the children to an empty classroom, where there was a large old wardrobe. On the way to the classroom, he also punished the annoying Peeves with a small hex, which made the children suddenly have confidence in his ability.

"There is a Boggart in this wardrobe. Now, can any student tell me what a Boggart is?"

"It's a monster that turns into the things we fear." Hermione raised her hand and said.

"Almost correct, but not accurate enough," Professor Lupin said, and Hermione's face turned a bit red. "When a Boggart hides in the dark, we don't know what shape it is. It also doesn't know what appearance will make people on the other side of the door afraid. No one knows what a Boggart looks like when it's alone, but when we let it out, it immediately turns into the thing we fear most."

"This means," Professor Lupin said with a smile: "Before we start, we have a huge advantage over it. Do you know what its weakness is? Harry?"

"Because there are many of us, it doesn't know what shape it should turn into." Harry guessed.

"Correct, the more people, the more the Boggart doesn't know what shape it should turn into." Lupin continued. "However, I want to teach everyone a spell today that can help you not fear the Boggart when you are alone."

"This spell is 'Riddikulus'." Lupin said. "It can make the Boggart turn into the interesting appearance you imagine. When the thing you fear changes its appearance, then there's nothing to be afraid of."

He let everyone imagine the things they feared, and what they should turn them into. Harry immediately thought of Dementors; he felt this was even more terrifying than Voldemort. Just as he was distressed about how to make it look funny, Lupin spoke.

"Now, starting from Neville, be careful. Once the Boggart finds it can't scare Neville, it might attack everyone present."

Neville stepped forward, pulled out his wand with a complex expression. Harry felt he was already prepared to face Voldemort again.

The wardrobe door opened, but inside was not a Dark Wizard, but Neville himself. The Neville in the wardrobe was pale, depressed, and chubby. As soon as he saw the crowd, he couldn't help but cry.

"I don't fear any enemy, I only fear losing myself." Neville said with some emotion. "The former me was really cowardly."

"But, once I accept my own weakness, then I am invincible." He slowly raised his wand. "Riddikulus."

The Neville in the wardrobe stood up immediately and took out a belt and buckled it around his waist.

"Cobra! Rider System! Evolve!" A voice shouted.

Harry looked at Neville with confusion, but he also didn't quite understand the situation.

"I never thought of this, I mean, it should start attacking the next person." Neville said anxiously. "Everyone be careful."

But not a single student stood out to claim their fear. They looked at each other. Lupin also realized something was wrong, but he just drew his wand guardedly.

In the purple-black smoke and lightning, the Boggart turned into a black-and-white colored freak, and then it slowly walked toward a corner where no one was.

"Long time no see? Perhaps not long..." It said while picking up something from the ground. Harry could vaguely see the outline, looking like a person.

"Save..." Zhang Qiu's Disillusionment Charm struggled and slipped off. Harry had never seen her look so out of control; she looked like she had been scared to death.

"Oh no, can you say the spell? Try it?" Lupin even tried to encourage her, but Zhang Qiu couldn't say a word.

Finally, Lupin waved his wand and drove the Boggart back into the wardrobe. Zhang Qiu sat paralyzed on the ground, gasping for air. She was sweating a lot, looking like she had been fished out of water.

"Good child, it's alright." Lupin comforted her. "I remember you are a fourth-year student, why are you here? Are you trying to audit our class?"

"That's right, I want to see the Boggart." Zhang Qiu said weakly.

"Alright, now it's back in the wardrobe, it's alright." Lupin said gently. "You must not have been prepared. Boggarts won't be deceived by invisibility; it also noticed you. Now is it convenient to say what this thing is? As long as you are prepared, you can easily defeat it."

"A Dark Wizard more terrifying than Voldemort, it can't be made funny." Zhang Qiu sighed. "I'm sorry to disturb your class, I have to go."

"Alright, after all, you are just here to audit. It's my mistake to scare you." Lupin said tolerantly. "Go back and rest quickly, or find Madam Pomfrey to check. Harry, why don't you accompany her."

Harry helped Zhang Qiu walk out and whispered: "I'm also having a headache. If the Boggart turns into a Dementor, I can't think of any way to make it funny."

"Once you learn the Patronus Charm, it won't turn into a Dementor anymore."

"By the way, what's going on with this freak? Is this the terrifying thing you mentioned?"

"No, it has already been defeated. Although it's hard for us to forget it, it is indeed no longer in this world." Zhang Qiu said with lingering fear. "And the good news is, the upcoming terrifying thing is not as terrifying as this guy yet."

"That's good. If even this freak can be defeated, then other terrifying things can also be handled, right?" After Harry said this, he was certain that Zhang Qiu looked a little less stressed. ===== CHAPTER 108 =====