Always There For You (Harry Potter OC X OC)

27. Professor Lupin-

'Hey... seriously, are you alright?' asked Anthony.

Joel was laying in bed, covered in a blanket. He peeked over his blanket and to his surprise, the girls were there as well. Seeing lots of people checking up on him did not make himself feel better at all. If at all, it was embarassment.

He pulled the blanket up again over his head. 'Go away all of you.'

Andika was sitting on his own bed, practicing charms spell. He looked confused at this sudden little crowd.

'Hey, it was rough out there. We saw it too,' said Michael.

'Your first tryout was better than this, Joel. Are you sick or something?' asked Terry.

'Was it really that bad, though?' asked Padma, genuinely confused.

Sue, Isobel, Lisa, and Mandy stood by the door, checking the boys' room.

'Go away,' said Joel.

'We'll tell Mr. Flitwick you're sick today, you don't have to go to class,' said Sue.

Joel stayed silent.

'Well, I'm going down to the common room. Clearly, Joel doesn't want to be bothered. Let's go,' said Mandy.

Mandy, Isobel, Sue, and Lisa went away first. Padma followed, then the boys, except for Terry and Andika. Terry waited for everyone to get out, though he didn't care about Andika being in the room still.

Terry said, 'Captain spoke to me after his closing speech. He said I did good. I think I might get in.'

Great... he thought sarcastically.

'Just a heads up...' said Terry before leaving.

Next day, Joel didn't take a shower before coming down for breakfast. He didn't feel like it. He couldn't let himself stay in forever or else it would escalate to Professor Flitwick checking.

'There's our boy!' said Michael, seeing Joel appearing for breakfast.

'Finally up the dead. No worries, right? You can try again next year,' said Anthony.

Joel glowered at Anthony. 'None years. There's no next year. If I don't get in, I'm moving to other clubs,' said Joel bitterly.

'You can join my gobstone club,' said Michael in interest.

'Or my debate club,' said Anthony.

Joel took a muffin and shoved it to his mouth.

Terry sat quietly with a frown. Somehow, Joel's poopy mood infected him too.

Michael, who was sitting next to Joel, grabbed a toast and dumped it on his plate. Joel only stared at it. Then, as if there was a magnet, Joel looked over to the Great Hall's giant doorway. In his own annoyance, he found Lizzy walking with her friend while a default smile as usual, like she had no care in the world.

Something about her seemed different, somehow. Maybe it was the fact that she tied up her hair? She had been doing that a lot. Something about her walking with her friends... Joel couldn't point it out. Her appearance seemed different. Joel's throat dropped to his stomach. His heart started racing, especially when Lizzy looked back with a wide smile.

His best friend seemed a bit more confident recently. A lot brighter than she had been at Reading.

Joel wanted to cry. His eyes stung, but he wouldn't do that in front of people around him. He took another muffin and gobbled it up. And as his cheeks plumped up full of it, Anthony was pouring a pumpkin juice to a goblet. That orange thick substance vilely classified as a juice made him feel sick. He gagged in reflex.

His friends froze and looked at him. Maybe Joel is really sick, they thought.

***

Defense against the dark arts class teachers had been a real bummer on these past two years. Twice, they had been replaced. The last teacher was horribly incompetent, so their expectation of this new teacher was very low.

This new teacher's name was Remus John Lupin. The new defence against the dark arts teacher.

The ravenclaw and hufflepuff third years watched Professor Lupin walk into the class, just to say, 'Follow me, everyone. We need more space to kick out those stiff feet, don't we?' he said. He took them out from this classroom. They followed the professor into an abandoned big room.

'Last person to enter, close the door. Please and thank you,' said the humble professor as he walked in first.

The class was a bit tense but curious of what this was going to be. The teacher started the class with an interestingly mysterious flair. Serious, but relaxed. Complicated topic, but easy to understand. He theatrically was spellbinding everyone. Then it was time for first lesson.

'...behind this closet is a dark creature which no one has ever known of it's true form. It's physicality changes according to our deepest fear. Who here can tell me what name is this creature?'

Several Hufflepuffs did raise their hands, but ALL Ravenclaws raised their hands.

Professor Lupin chuckled. 'Alright, I will pick each a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to be fair. You and you. Tell me the name together, alright, on the count of three. What is the name of a creature that shapeshifts into your biggest fear? One, two, three.'

'A boggart,' said Sue and Justin together.

'Correct, a boggart...' Professor Lupin continued a quick deeper explanation of it, especially the name of the counter spell to defeat this creature. '... alright now I want you all to form a line. No need to determine who goes first, just jumble up and form a line. Yes, that's right, keep calm everyone, keep calm...'

This teacher was by far more interesting than the previous ones. People giddily lined up, excited to face whatever it was inside the closet. Joel queued behind Sue and in front of Ernie.

'Wands out everyone!'

Everyone got their wands out. Nervous, yet excited, they were. The professor went to turn on a gramaphone and played a music.

The closet rattled.

Everyone were taken aback. Something eerie was inside. The first person at the front tried to escape, but the others held him in place.

'Step forward please, young man.'

The first person gulped scaredly. Other kids peeked to see.

'Relax, take a deep breath. When you're ready, wand up, and step forward. Remember the spell.'

The kid stepped forward. His heart was thumping fast. Sweat was lining down his forehead.

'Remember the spell... riddikulus.' Professor Lupin eyed him carefully. When he thought the kid was ready, he opened the closet.

Out of the dark, giant spider legs appeared. It showed it's entire body. Eight red eyes and big pincers.

Kids in the room screamed.

The kid with his wand up trembled in fear. His face paled white like he was about to faint.

'Come on! Riddikulus!' Lupin said.

'Ri... ri...' the boy took a deep breath in adrenaline. 'Riddikulus!'

The spider popped up and lost it's legs. Now it looked like a wiggly giant pillow. Everyone in the room started laughing. The boy was deeply relieved.

'Good job! Next!' said the professor cheerfully. The kid left to the side and the next kid stepped forward.