One in a Million

Boggarts

Harry's POV:

Lupin opened the lid of the trunk and suddenly a black fog covered the floor.

"What? I thought you were afraid of spiders." I said. Ron nodded.

"Me too. I'm certainly not afraid of fog." He answered, confusion plain in his voice.

Suddenly, shapes started appearing on the floor. Each of them were ghostly white. Each of them were completely still. And each of them were absolutely dead.

Me. Hermione. Ginny. Mrs. Weasley. The twins. Everyone in his family. They were all dead. Ron jumped back, his face stricken.

"How do I make this good? This is the opposite of good, Harry! I wasn't ready for this!"

Ron stepped back, his wand hand shaking violently. I saw the fear in his eyes then pushed him out of the way. The boggart immediately shifted form.

A dementor rose out of the trunk, sucking in deep, rattling breaths.

"Riddikulas!" I shouted, pointing my wand at where the dementor's heart would be if it had one.

The dementor immediately changed into a clown and started hopping around the room. The class started laughing and Lupin stupefied it and it froze. He wrestled it back into the trunk, then clasped the locks.

"Well done Harry. Here. Have a bit of chocolate." It was small, but I gave it to Ron. He still looked rather pale.

"Thank you boys. You may return to your seats." Lupin said, nodding at us.

Ron looked ready to pass out, so I wrapped an arm around his waist and led him back to his seat.

"Ron? Are you alright?" Hermione asked as soon as he sat down. He shook his head then rested his head on the desk. Hermione looked at me worriedly.

"Will he be okay?" I shrugged.

"I dunno. He wasn't expecting that. I didn't know boggarts could change. Mine didn't." Hermione looked down at Ron.

"I guess he started caring about something and the idea of loosing it was worse than facing a spider."

I looked up at Lupin then looked around the class. Many of them were looking over at Ron and I then returning their gaze back to the front, but one person wasn't. Malfoy. He was watching us and not bothering to hide it.

"With that demonstration in mind, who can tell me what a boggart is? What do they do?" Hermione's hand was immediately in the air.

"Yes Hermione?" Lupin asked, a smile on his face.

"A boggart is a shapeshifter. They take the form of the thing a person fears the most." Lupin nodded.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Five points to Gryffindor." Hermione grinned, but it faded when she saw Ron, still with his head on the desk, his breathing shallow.

"As Hermione said, a boggart takes the form of whatever we fear the most. Who can tell me what defeats a boggart? Yes Harry?" I had unconsciously raised my hand.

"Oh. Erm... laughter. If you laugh at them enough, they go away." Lupin chuckled.

"Right again. Take another five points. Since you now know what a boggart is, each of you will have your turn to face it. Everyone stand, please."

Hermione and I nodded at one another and each hoisted Ron up by the arms. Lupin waved his wand and all of the desks moved aside, making a large space in the middle.

"Everyone make a line please. Yes, I imagine many of you are getting third year flash backs." Several people chuckled as they formed a line.

Lupin explained the spell and soon people were going one at a time.

A boy's boggart of a bloody bear turned into a little cub, rolling around the floor.

A girl's dead girlfriend turned into an old woman singing off-key.

Another girl's boggart of a fire breathing dragon turned into a clown in a tutu, doing pirouettes all over the floor.

It went on and on until the bell rang. Only a few people were left.

"Those who didn't go today will get a chance tomorrow!" Lupin said as the class left the room, chattering excitedly.

"You two go on without me. I want to talk to Lupin." Hermione nodded and practically dragged Ron from the room. His face still looked paler than ever.

I walked up to Lupin's desk and he looked up at me with a smile.

"Ah. I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here. Why I'm not at the hospital?" I nodded.

"How's Sirius? Is he better?" Lupin's stoney face gave me my answer.

"He's not better, he's not worse. But I couldn't just sit there. The Order has given me as much time as they could, but I knew I had to work. I need money, after all. Dumbledore was kind enough to get me back my old position. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. But how are you doing? I went to visit you in the Hospital Wing but you weren't conscious." So he did know.

"I'm...getting back into it. I guess I forgot how stressful it was here. But it's good. It's a distraction, you know?" Lupin nodded.

"I understand. I'll keep you posted on Sirius' condition, but right now you need to get to lunch." I nodded, a slight grin on my face, then made my way quickly from the room.

***

On my way to the Great Hall, I met up with Ron and Hermione. Ron looked much better. Less ghostly.

"How are you doing?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I...was not expecting that. I didn't know boggarts could change. I'm still hella afraid of spiders though." I chuckled, but my grin quickly faded.

"I guess you're afraid of your loved ones dying even more now." I said with a shrug.

I heard a snort of sarcastic laughter behind me and turned around.

Two Slytherins were standing in front of us, sneers on their faces. I didn't recognize either them.

"Poor poor Weaslebee. Must be so sad loosing your family like that. Big baby. I'm sure the world would be better without blood traitors like you." Ron started forward, but Hermione restrained him.

"Besides, it's not like it was real. Just a ploy to mess with your feelings set up by that Merlin awful teacher. Who hired a werewolf, anyway? I'll tell Mother. She will make sure Dumbledore is fired as Headmaster and that werewolf is thrown out. He shouldn't even be qualified to teach. He should just be thrown out on his arse. Better yet, sick him on the mudbloods. That'll show-"

I had the boy on the floor and was punching the hell out of him in a flash.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted behind me.

I kicked the boy beside him to the ground and started punching him too.

"Mad you are!" The boy below me yelled.

I heard a crack when my fist collided with his nose, but couldn't bring myself to care in the slightest. After all, no one would insult Ron or Lupin and get away with it.

I felt someone dragging me away and tried to pull myself out of their grip, but it was iron.

I kicked the two boys on the ground once more before I was dragged out of reach.

The two boys quickly stood and scampered away.

"He's mad! Bloody mad!" The one who had insulted Lupin shouted as he ran away.

"You're right! And I'll fucking kill you if you say a word about either of them again!" I shouted after them.

I turned around and found myself face to face with Malfoy of all people. Why the hell would he stop me? Why is he here, anyway?

"Just let go of me!" I yelled as I pushed him away.

"Harry-" Hermione started, but I glared at her and she shut up.

I kicked the wooden bench along the wall so hard that it flipped over, then stormed down the corridor, knowing exactly where I was going.