Legacy (Hermione x OC)

Hermione (III)

The Gryffindoors got inside the DADA class, and waited for Professor Lupin to arrive.

It had been a couple of days after their first classes, so the students all had mixed feelings about the class. Some of them were excited, some were worried that everything could go horribly wrong, and some were waiting before they could make their decision.

After a while, Professor Lupin came in and all the students turned to him. They greeted each other, and Lupin got to teaching. He was wearing ragged clothes like in the train, but appeared healthier than when he was on the train.

"Keep your books inside everyone, and leave your bags here. We are not going to need anything but our wands for this lesson," Lupin instructed before telling the students to follow him, to which they obliged.

Lupin took them on a room that was empty and seemed abandoned. The only thing on the room was an old-looking cupboard.

"What is that, professor?" Neville asked Lupin.

"That, Mr. Longbottom, is a boggart," Lupin replied. "Can anyone tell me what a boggart is?"

At this question, three students quickly raised their hands. Hermione threw daggers towards Harry and Jason, who somehow, were actually interested in answering a question.

"Ms. Granger?" Lupin called her.

"It's a shape-shifter. It takes the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most," Hermione replied.

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Ms. Granger," Lupin said. "So what does a boggart actually look like? Mr. Potter."

"No one knows. Boggarts like to stay in the dark, and don't really appear in front of people as their true selves," Harry replied.

"Excellent, Harry." Lupin said; that apparently surprised some of the students.

"So how can we defeat a boggart? Jason."

"With a good 'ol laugh," Jason said. "And with numbers," he further added.

"Numbers meaning?"

"It's possible to defeat a boggart if there is more than one person present," Jason replied confidently.

"Correct, Mr. Grindlewald," said professor Lupin. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

"Now, about the laugh part. The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind.

You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please . . . Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" said the class together.

"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: What would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.

"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.